Brianaria
Brianaria is a lichen genus in the family Psoraceae. It was circumscribed in 2014 by Stefan Ekman and Måns Svensson to contain four closely related species formerly in the Micarea sylvicola group.
Taxonomy
Brianaria was introduced in 2014 to accommodate the long-recognised "Micarea sylvicola group", whose species proved—by DNA analyses and shared anatomical traits—to fall outside Micarea in the strict sense. The authors recombined four former Micarea species as Brianaria. The genus name honours Brian [John Coppins] for his work on crustose lichens. In phylogenetic studies Brianaria forms a single, well-supported lineage within the family Psoraceae and is probably the sister group to Psora and Protoblastenia, rather than part of the Pilocarpaceae where Micarea sits.The separation of the genera rests on clear diagnostic. Brianaria has a green-algal partner that is not the type typical of Micarea; its tiny, convex fruiting discs lack a distinct rim ; the spore sacs are of the Psora-type with a broad, dark "tube" that widens towards the tip; the accessory filaments in the hymenium occur in two forms ; the sexual spores are 0–1-septate; and the asexual reproductive structures are sunk in the thallus and produce short, rod-shaped conidia. Taken together, these features set Brianaria apart from Micarea in the strict sense, from Psora, and from Protoblastenia.
Nomenclaturally, the type species traces back to Lecidea sylvicola, validated by Gustav Wilhelm Körber in 1855, later placed in Micarea, and finally transferred to Brianaria when the genus was erected.