''Rhabdodiscus'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
of
script lichen A script lichen, or graphid lichen, is a member of a group of lichens which have spore producing structures that look like writing on the lichen body. The structures are elongated and narrow apothecia called lirellae, which look like short scribble ...
s in the family
Graphidaceae
The Graphidaceae are a family of lichens in the order Ostropales.
Distribution and ecology
The vast majority of Graphidaceae species are restricted to the tropics. Most Graphidaceae species are epiphytic (i.e. they grow only on plants).
Gene ...
. It has 36 species.
Taxonomy
The genus was
circumscribed
In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius.
Not every po ...
by Finnish lichenologist
Edvard August Vainio
Edvard August Vainio (born Edvard Lang; 5 August 185314 May 1929) was a Finnish lichenologist. His early works on the lichens of Lapland, his three-volume monograph on the lichen genus ''Cladonia'', and, in particular, his study of the classif ...
in 1921.
The species of this genus were previously classified in genus ''
Stegobolus
''Stegobolus'' is a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Thelotremataceae
The Thelotremataceae are a family of lichenized fungi in the order Ostropales.
Genera
*''Acanthotrema''
*''Chapsa''
*''Chroodiscus''
*''Diploschistes''
*'' Fibril ...
'', until
molecular phylogenetic
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...
analysis showed that ''Stegobolus'' and ''Rhabdodiscus'' formed two separate, distantly related
clades. ''Rhabdodiscus'' was formally reinstated in 2012 to contain the formers members of the ''Stegobolus auberianus''
species group
In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...
.
Description
''Rhabdodiscus'' is characterised by having a distinctly carbonized (blackened)
apothecia
An ascocarp, or ascoma (), is the fruiting body ( sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded asci, each of which typically contains four to eight ascospores. Ascocarps are mo ...
with thin margins that lack a felt-like
pruina Pruinescence , or pruinosity, is a "frosted" or dusty-looking coating on top of a surface. It may also be called a pruina (plural: ''pruinae''), from the Latin word for hoarfrost. The adjectival form is pruinose .
Entomology
In insects, a "blo ...
. In contrast, ''Stegobolus'' species have apothecia that are either uncarbonized to weakly carbonized, and have thick margins with felty pruina on the inner side.
Species
,
Species Fungorum
''Index Fungorum'' is an international project to index all formal names ( scientific names) in the fungus kingdom. the project is based at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, one of three partners along with Landcare Research and the Institute of ...
accepts 36 species of ''Rhabdodiscus''.
*''
Rhabdodiscus albodenticulatus''
*''
Rhabdodiscus argentinensis''
*''
Rhabdodiscus asiaticus''
*''
Rhabdodiscus bakoensis''
*''
Rhabdodiscus caracasanus''
*''
Rhabdodiscus crassoides''
*''
Rhabdodiscus crassus''
*''
Rhabdodiscus emersellus''
*''
Rhabdodiscus emersus''
*''
Rhabdodiscus exutus''
*''
Rhabdodiscus farinosus''
*''
Rhabdodiscus feigei''
*''
Rhabdodiscus granulosus''
*''
Rhabdodiscus inalbescens''
*''
Rhabdodiscus indicus''
*''
Rhabdodiscus inspersus''
*''
Rhabdodiscus integer''
*''
Rhabdodiscus isidiatus''
– Sri Lanka
*''
Rhabdodiscus isidiifer
''Rhabdodiscus'' is a genus of script lichens in the family Graphidaceae. It has 36 species.
Taxonomy
The genus was circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribed by Finnish lichenologist Edvard August Vainio in 1921. The species of this genus were p ...
''
*''
Rhabdodiscus kinabalensis''
*''
Rhabdodiscus korupensis''
*''
Rhabdodiscus lankaensis''
*''
Rhabdodiscus marivelensis''
*''
Rhabdodiscus neocaledonicus''
*''
Rhabdodiscus parnmenianus''
*''
Rhabdodiscus planus''
*''
Rhabdodiscus ramificans''
*''
Rhabdodiscus reconditus''
*''
Rhabdodiscus saxicola''
*''
Rhabdodiscus schizostomus''
*''
Rhabdodiscus subcavatus''
*''
Rhabdodiscus subemersus''
*''
Rhabdodiscus tanzanicus''
*''
Rhabdodiscus thouvenotii''
*''
Rhabdodiscus trinitatis''
*''
Rhabdodiscus verrucoisidiatus''
References
Graphidaceae
Lichen genera
Taxa described in 1921
Taxa named by Edvard August Vainio
Graphidales genera
{{Lecanoromycetes-stub