ITALIC 7.0

Violella fucata (Stirt.) T. Sprib.

Lichenologist, 43: 461, 2011. Basionym: Lecidea fucata Stirt. - Scottish Natur., 5: 16, 1879.

Synonyms: Megalospora fucata (Stirt.) H. Olivier; Mycoblastus fucatus (Stirt.) Zahlbr.; Mycoblastus sterilis Coppins & P. James

Distribution: N - Frl (Nascimbene & al. 2021), TAA (Thor & Nascimbene 2007, Nascimbene & al. 2007b, 2022, Nimis & al. 2015). C - Tosc (Brackel 2015).

Description: Thallus crustose, episubstratic, greyish white to bluish grey in non-sorediate parts, continuous to areolate, usually but not always sorediate, forming regular or irregular, up to 3(-l0) cm wide patches, often delimited by a blue- or brown-black prothallus, especially when forming mosaics. Areoles more or less rounded to irregular in outline, adnate, convex, up to c. 0.3 mm in diam.; continuous parts usually distinctly tuberculate and more or less fissured. Soralia green or pale yellowish green when abraded, often appearing bluish grey due to a pigment in the external soredia, bursting from apices of areoles or tubercles, concave to convex, usually of variable size, up to 1.5 mm in diam., discrete to contiguous, occasionally a few becoming confluent, but never forming a leprose crust. Soredia mostly farinose, sometimes gathered into larger consoredia up to 90 μm in diam.; external soredia sometimes with a brown, K+ intensifying, N+ reddish brown pigment. Apothecia usually rare, biatorine, 0.5-1.5(-2) mm across, black, closely adpressed, with a flat to strongly convex disc and a thin, soon excluded proper margin. Proper exciple reduced, the hyphae vertically arranged and resembling paraphyses; epithecium scarcely differentiated from the hymenium; hymenium greenish (Cinereorufa-green pigment), with many purple-violet granules (Fucatus-violet pigment) reacting N+ red, K+ dissolving bright green; paraphyses branched and anastomosing, straight or slightly curved with thinner cross-bridges; hypothecium red-brown, the lower part pale violet to colourless, rarely red-brown-spotted. Asci (1-)2(-3)-spored, cylindrical-clavate, very thick-walled, with a K/I+ blue apical dome and a distinct ocular chamber, the outer layer forming a K/I+ dark blue apical cap, intermediate between the Biatora and the Bacidia-type. Ascospores 1-celled, hyaline but turning brownish when overmature, ellipsoid, (25-)30-48(-52) x 15-21 μm, initially with a single wall, later with an additional internal wall turning brown. Photobiont chlorococcoid. Spot tests: K+ bright yellow turning red-brown, C-, KC+ dull brown, P+ rust-red, UV-. Chemistry: fumarprotocetraric acid, atranorin, chloroatranorin, traces of protocetraric acid.

Note: a cool-temperate lichen found on bark in humid woodlands of the montane belt; certainly much overlooked in the Alps, being mostly sterile. It is included in the Italian red list of epiphytic lichens as “Data Deficient” (Nascimbene & al. 2013c).

Growth form: Crustose

Substrata: bark

Photobiont: green algae other than Trentepohlia

Reproductive strategy: mainly asexual, by soredia, or soredia-like structures (e.g. blastidia)

Commonnes-rarity: (info)

Alpine belt: absent

Subalpine belt: absent

Oromediterranean belt: absent

Montane belt: very rare

Submediterranean belt: absent

Padanian area: absent

Humid submediterranean belt: absent

Humid mediterranean belt: absent

Dry mediterranean belt: absent

pH of the substrata:

1

2

3

4

5

(info)

Solar irradiation:

1

2

3

4

5

(info)

Aridity:

1

2

3

4

5

(info)

Eutrophication:

1

2

3

4

5

(info)

Poleotolerance:

0

1

2

3

(info)

Altitudinal distribution:

1

2

3

4

5

6

(info)

Predictive model

Herbarium samples

Index Fungorum GBIF

Leif Stridvall - Source: http://www.stridvall.se/la/galleries.php . Courtesy: Anita Stridvall

P.L. Nimis; Owner: Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste

Herbarium: TSB (18194)
2001/11/26

Pier Luigi Nimis - CC BY-SA 4.0

TSB 38815

Pier Luigi Nimis - CC BY-SA 4.0

TSB 38815

Leif Stridvall - Source: http://www.stridvall.se/la/galleries.php . Courtesy: Anita Stridvall

Jacques Haine - Source: http://www.lichensmaritimes.org/index.php?task=fiche&lichen=618&lang=en

France, Ardennes

Jacques Haine - Source: http://www.lichensmaritimes.org/index.php?task=fiche&lichen=618&lang=en

France, Ardennes

Jacques Haine - Source: http://www.lichensmaritimes.org/index.php?task=fiche&lichen=618&lang=en

France, Ardennes

Ulrich Kirschbaum

Central Europe.