Phyllopsora pseudocorallina Kistenich & Timdal

Kistenich, Sonja, Bendiksby, Mika, Vairappan, Charles S., Weerakoon, Gothamie, Wijesundara, Siril, Wolseley, Patricia A. & Timdal, Einar, 2019, A regional study of the genus Phyllopsora (Ramalinaceae) in Asia and Melanesia, MycoKeys 53, pp. 23-72 : 23

Phyllopsora pseudocorallina Kistenich & Timdal sp. nov Fig. 9B

Diagnosis.

Differs from P. corallina in having a more rosulate thallus and in substitutions in the mtSSU and ITS sequences.

Type.

CAMBODIA, Siem Reap: around Ta Nei temple, Angkor Wats complex, 13°27'N, 103°53'E, ca. 30 m alt., on rock (sand stone), 2005-12-20, H. Kashiwadani 47806 (TNS!-holotype) [TLC: no lichen substances; DNA: MK412430 (mtSSU), MK412491 (ITS)].

Description.

Thallus effuse or forming irregular rosettes up to 1 cm diam., squamulose; squamules medium sized, up to 1 mm wide, adnate to ascending, elongate, contiguous or partly imbricate, crenulate to incised, plane to weakly convex, medium green, glabrous on the upper side, faintly pubescent along the margin; isidia common, attached marginally to the squamules, cylindrical, simple or slightly branched, up to 0.1 mm wide and 0.6 mm long; upper cortex formed by thick-walled hyphae with rounded lumina (type 2), 20-30 µm thick; cortex and medulla not containing crystals ( PD–, K–); prothallus indistinct to partly well developed, white.

Apothecia common, up to 1.5 mm diam., rounded when young, later often becoming irregular, simple or sometimes somewhat conglomerate, plane to moderately convex, yellowish to medium brown, with an indistinct, usually slightly paler, glabrous to finely pubescent margin; excipulum pale brown to colourless, K–; hypothecium pale brown to colourless, K–; epithecium colourless; no crystals in apothecium; ascospores narrowly ellipsoid to shortly bacilliform, simple, 6-10 × 2.5-3 µm (n=30). Conidiomata not seen.

Chemistry.

No lichen substances.

Distribution.

Cambodia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, The Seychelles.

Etymology.

The specific epithet refers to its morphological and chemical similarity to P. corallina .

Remarks.

The species is morphologically, anatomically, and chemically very similar to P. corallina . There is, however, a tendency of P. pseudocorallina being more rosulate, i.e., composed of more radiating and elongated marginal lobes. The phylogenetic tree (Fig. 1), however, shows the two species not to be closely related: P. corallina is resolved in a clade with P. glaucella and P. rappiana as sister to P. martinii , while P. pseudocorallina appears in a clade with P. castaneocincta and P. neofoliata among others (Fig. 1). The new species is widely distributed in Asia and also found on The Seychelles. It is unclear whether P. corallina occurs in Asia at all or if previously reported specimens of P. corallina rather represent specimens of P. pseudocorallina .

Additional specimens examined.

MALAYSIA, Sabah: Malaysian Borneo, Maliau, "Knowledge Trail", pristine lowland dipterocarp forest; on stem (ca. 20 m high) of fallen tree on crushed bridge, 2012, H. Thüs, P. Wolseley & C. Vairappan M001a (BORH) [DNA: MK412437 (mtSSU)]; same locality data, H. Thüs, P. Wolseley & C. Vairappan M001b (BORH); same locality data, H. Thüs, P. Wolseley & C. Vairappan M005 (BORH) [DNA: MK412438 (mtSSU)]. PAPUA NEW GUINEA, Madang : Manam island, near Bogia, in gardens near Budua, 4°07'S, 145°00'E, 50 m alt., epiphytic, 1992-07-22, P. Diederich 11386 (hb. Diederich) [DNA: MK412449 (mtSSU), MK412495 (ITS)]. THE SEYCHELLES, Mahé: W of Anse Royale, Le Jardin du Roi, 4.74642S, 55.50297E, 150-200 m alt., parkland and neighbouring forest, on rock, 2015-07-26, P. Diederich 17809 (hb. Diederich); Port Glaud, near Sauzier Waterfall, 4.65847S, 55.41403E, 20-70 m alt., on tree, 2015-07-28, P. Diederich 17897 (hb. Diederich).