Baculifera
Baculifera is a genus of lichens in the family Caliciaceae. It was circumscribed in 2000 by Bernhard Marbach and Klaus Kalb. Species in this genus are characterized by having bacilliform conidia typically measuring 8–11 μm long, and a non- hymenium. The genus is roughly similar in morphology to Buellia.
Description
The thallus is crustose: it forms a thin, crust that can be smooth and continuous or break into patches, and in some species it lies mostly within the bark. It lacks a distinct outer , and a faint marginal may be present. The is a unicellular green alga with roughly spherical cells about 8–18 μm across.Sexual reproductive structures are apothecia that are and. The is black and flat, wavy, or slightly convex, without a whitish frosting. The is persistent, the same colour as the disc, and cup-shaped in section, appearing opaque dark brown. The hymenium is clear and not filled with oil droplets and carries a dark, pigmented epithecial layer. Paraphyses are or only sparsely branched and tend to stick together in a KOH test; their tips bear a distinct, internally pigmented cap. The asci are club-shaped and usually contain 3–8 spores. Their apical cap is well developed and amyloid, sometimes with a slightly more intensely amyloid band beside a broad or narrow conical central plug whose rounded apex usually extends through the tholus.
The ascospores are brown to grey-brown, ellipsoid, sometimes slightly curved, and divided by 1–3 cross-walls. They lack a clear outer, and occur in two main forms: a Buellia-type with fairly even walls and little thickening, and a Callispora-type with slight to strong wall thickenings near the ends and the middle. Asexual reproduction occurs in immersed pycnidia that produce short, rod-shaped conidia. In chemical tests, many species contain atranorin and/or norstictic acid, while others have no detectable secondary metabolites.
Species
- Baculifera cinereocincta
- Baculifera confusa
- Baculifera curtisii
- Baculifera entochlora
- Baculifera epifuscescens
- Baculifera epiviolascens
- Baculifera imshaugiana
- Baculifera intermedia
- Baculifera intermedioides
- Baculifera longispora
- Baculifera macromera
- Baculifera metaphragmia
- Baculifera metaphragmioides
- Baculifera micromera
- Baculifera orosa
- Baculifera pseudomicromera
- Baculifera remensa
- Baculifera tobleri
- ''Baculifera xylophila''