''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'', until molecular phylogenetic 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.
Description
''Rhabdodiscus'' is characterised by having a distinctly carbonized (blackened) apothecia with thin margins that lack a felt-like pruina. 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 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 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