Psora altotibetica Timdal, Obermayer & Bendiksby

Timdal, Einar, Obermayer, Walter & Bendiksby, Mika, 2016, Psoraaltotibetica (Psoraceae, Lecanorales), a new lichen species from the Tibetan part of the Himalayas, MycoKeys 13, pp. 35-48 : 40-43

Taxon classification Fungi Lecanorales Psoraceae

Psora altotibetica Timdal, Obermayer & Bendiksby sp. nov. Fig. 2

Diagnosis.

Similar to Psora indigirkae , but apothecia black, ascospores shorter, and bourgeanic acid absent from the thallus.

Type.

CHINA. Xizang: Himalaya Range, 165 km SSE of Lhasa, 40 km W of Lhünze, little village on way to Nera Tso (=Ni La Hu), 28°23'N, 92°05'E, 4300-4400 m alt., dry-valley, N-exposed dry slopes, on the ground, 1 Aug 1994, W.Obermayer 5282 (holotype: GZU!).

Description.

Thallus squamulose; squamules up to 3 mm wide, rounded, adnate, dispersed to adjacent, weakly concave to plane; upper surface medium brown, dull, becoming moderately to densely pruinose, smooth when young, later with fissures in the cortex; margin concolorous with upper side or partly white, straight to slightly down-turned or slightly up-turned, entire; upper cortex 40-60 μm thick, composed of pale brown, thin-walled hyphae with rounded lumina, containing remnants of algae throughout (Chlor-zinc-iodine!), containing crystals of gyrophoric acid (assumedly, dissolving in K) and (in pruinose squamules) crystals of calcium oxalate; epinecral layer hardly developed. Medulla not amyloid, containing both lichen substances (dissolving in K) and calcium oxalate; lower cortex poorly developed, composed of mainly periclinally oriented, pale brown hyphae, not containing crystals; lower surface brown. Apothecia up to 1.2 mm diam., marginal or submarginal on the squamules, plane and indistinctly marginate when young, soon becoming convex and immarginate, black, epruinose or faintly white pruinose at the margin. Hypothecium colourless, containing crystals of calcium oxalate; epihymenium yellowish brown, containing orange crystals dissolving in K, K+ purple. Ascus clavate, with a well-developed, amyloid tholus containing a deeper amyloid tube, lacking an ocular chamber ( Porpidia -type); ascospores ellipsoid, simple, hyaline, 9-14 × 5-7 µm (n = 30). Conidiomata not seen.

Chemistry.

Gyrophoric acid (by TLC); upper cortex and medulla K–, C+ faintly red, KC+ faintly red, P–.

Habitat and distribution.

The species is terricolous and known from nine localities in China (Tibet) and Nepal at altitudes between 4230 and 5000 m (Fig. 3).

Etymology.

The name refers to its occurrence at high altitude in the Tibetan part of the Himalayas.

Other specimens examined.

Psora altotibetica . CHINA. Xizang: Shegar, Rongbuk Valley, S of Rongpu-si, 5000 m alt., moraine hill, 7 Jul 1993, T. Engelskjøn T-030b (TROM L-42812); 5000 m alt., rock base, patchwise on silt, 7 Jul 1993, T. Engelskjøn T-036 (TROM L-42813); Upper Tsangpo basin, N of Saga, 29°34'N, 85°15'E, alt. 4760 m, 28°W, grazed stony relicts of Juniperus dwarf-scrub, on ground, 26 Aug 1993, G.Miehe. & S.Miehe 9573/23/02 (GZU) & 9573/23/03 (GZU); 120 km SSW of Quamdo (=Changtu), 10 km S of Bamda, 30°09'N, 97°17'E, 4500-4700 m alt., on mosses, overhang, NNW-exp., 6 Aug 1994, W.Obermayer 3967 (GZU); Himalaya Range, 160 km S of Lhasa, dry valley of Kuru river, 10 km NW Lhozag, 28°24'N, 90°39'E, 4230 m alt., N-exposed steep rocks in a glen, on soil, 17 Jul 1994, W.Obermayer 4350 (GZU) & 4365 (GZU); Himalaya Range, 170 km S of Lhasa, between Lhozhag and Lhakhang Dzong, W-facing slopes of Dhalari mountain, 28°20'N, 90°58'E, 4300 m alt., NNW-exposed, ± underhang, 20 Jul 1994, W.Obermayer 4485 (GZU) & 4502 (GZU); Himalaya Range, 170 km SE of Lhasa, 110 km SSE of Tsetang (Nedong), 28°35'N, 92°23'E, 4700 m alt., alpine meadows with Kobresia pygmaea , ground with Ochotona -burrows, 26 Jul 1994, W.Obermayer 4981 (GZU); Himalaya Range, 130 km SE of Lhasa, 50 km SSE of Tsetang (Nedong), on way to the pass Putrang La, 28°52'N, 92°06'E, 4400 m alt., dry slope, on soil, 2 Aug 1994, W.Obermayer 5223 (GZU). NEPAL. Mahalangur Himal, Khumbu, Moränen des Khumbu-Gletschers bei Lobuche, 4950-5000 m alt., Sep 1962, J.Poelt 1138 (GZU).

Psora himalayana . PAKISTAN. Karakorum, Naz Bar (Yasin), 36°17-25'N, 73°0-17'E, 3400-3470 m alt., subalpine Juniperus communis dwarf-scrub with Juniperus macropoda trees in Seriphidium maritimum steppe; on silt in rock crevices, 11 Sep 1990, G.Miehe & S.Miehe 3529 (GZU); Karakorum, Baltistan, Haramosh Range, “Alm” Pakora SE Ganto La, 35°41'N, 75°21'E, 3600-3800 m alt., pasture and rocks around the alm, rocky slopes, 3 Jul 1991, J.Poelt K91-416 (GZU).

Psora indigirkae . RUSSIA. Sakha Republic: Momskii region, along the river Indigirka, c. 48 km NNW of Tyubelyakh, 65°48'N, 142°53'E, 200-300 m alt., on calcareous soil in limestone cliffs, 20 Jul 1992, R.Haugan & E.Timdal YAK17/24 (O L-19086); c. 54 km N-NNW of Tyubelyakh, 65°51'N, 143°01'E, 200-300 m alt., 20 Jul 1992, M.P.Zhurbenko 92185 (O L-118686).

Psora tenuifolia . CHINA. Sichuan: Tibetan fringe mountains (=Hengduan Shan), Shaluli Shan, on the outskirts of Yajiang, 200 m E of the river Yalong Jiang, 30°02 ’22” N, 101°00 ’16” E, 2610 m alt., NE-exposed dry slopes with schist outcrops, on thin soil crust (over schist), 12 Aug 2000, W.Obermayer 9791 (GZU); Xizang: Himalaya Range, 170 km S of Lhasa, between Lhozhag and Lhakhang Dzong, W-facing slopes of Dhalari mountain, 28°20'N, 90°58'E, 4300 m alt., NNW-exposed, ± underhang, 20 Jul 1994, W.Obermayer 4487 (GZU); Himalaya Range, 175-180 km S of Lhasa, between Lhozhag and Lhakhang Dzong, Kuru river valley, pass, 28°12'N, 91°00'E, 3600 m alt., on soil, 21 Jul 1994, W.Obermayer 4525 (GZU); Himalaya Range, 210 km SE of Lhasa, 15 km ESE of Lhünze, way to Qayü, dry-valley of Subansiri, 28°24'N, 92°37'E, 4100-4200 m alt., on soil (+ mosses), 31 Jul 1994, W.Obermayer 5236 (GZU).

Psora vallesiaca . CHINA. Sichuan: Shalui Shan Mts, 30 km NE Batang, S Yidun, 30°16'N, 99°25'E, 3750-3800 m alt., on marble outcrops, soil, 25 Jun 1994, W.Obermayer 3227 (GZU); Xizang: Himalaya Range, 165 km SSE of Lhasa, 40 km W of Lhünze, little village on way to Nera Tso (=Ni La Hu), 28°23'N, 92°95'E, 4300-4400 m alt., dry-valley, N-exposed dry slopes, on the ground, 1 Aug 1994, W.Obermayer 5279 (GZU); Himalaya Range, 170 km S of Lhasa, between Lhozhag and Lhakhang Dzong, W-facing slopes of Dhalari mountain, 28°20'N, 90°58'E, 4300 m alt., NNW-exposed, ± underhang, 20 Jul 1994, W.Obermayer 4482 (GZU); PAKISTAN. Karakorum, Baltistan, Haramosh Range, between “Alm” Matumdus (3620 m, 35°42'N, 75°23'E) and Hemasil in the Basna Valley, 3100-3200 m alt., 7 Jul 1991, J.Poelt K91-705 (GZU); Karakorum, Baltistan, Basna valley, Basnald, 2500 m alt., 10 Jul 1991, J.Poelt s.n. (GZU).