Calopadia floridana
Calopadia floridana is a species of crustose lichen in the family Pilocarpaceae. It was first described from collections made in subtropical Florida. It has relatively large, gray-brown apothecia with a coarse white coating on the disk, and each ascus contains a single ascospore.
Taxonomy
Calopadia floridana was described as new in 2011 by Malcolm Hodges and Robert Lücking. The holotype was collected in March 2009 in Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, along Janes Scenic Drive about north-northwest of the ranger station, in a Taxodium–''Sabal hardwood hammock. It was found on a Taxodium branch and is deposited in the Field Museum herbarium. The specific epithet refers to its discovery in Florida.The species was distinguished from Calopadia puiggarii by its larger, pruinose apothecia. It was placed among Calopadia'' species with single, muriform ascospores under 100 μm long, and compared with similar species that differ in apothecial pruina, apothecial size, or ascospore length.
Description
The thallus grows on bark as patches, typically 1–3 cm across and about 30–50 μm thick, typically 1–3 cm across and about 30–50 μm thick. It is continuous in the center but becomes patchy toward the edges. The surface is uneven and ranges from white to pale gray. The is a green alga with cells.The apothecia are rounded and, and relatively large for the genus, about 0.6–1.2 mm in diameter and 250–350 μm high. The disk is flat to slightly convex, dark gray to brownish gray, and coarsely white-pruinose. The margin is thin and pale gray to cream-colored. Microscopically, the is colorless and the hypothecium is dark brown ; the apothecial base is aeruginous. The hymenium is colorless and about 120–150 μm high, with paraphyses that are unbranched to slightly branched."
Each ascus contains a single ellipsoid ascospore, measuring about 50–80 × 17–25 μm. The species also produces campylidia with a well-developed, hood-shaped lobe that is dark gray with a paler apex and pruinose. The conidia are threadlike with a club-shaped tip, 5–7-septate, and about 50–70 × 1.5–2 μm. No lichen substances were detected by thin-layer chromatography.
Habitat and distribution
The species is known from two collections in Florida: the type locality in Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park and an additional record from Sumter County. It grows on the smoother bark of small Taxodium branches and has also been found where the wood is exposed, and on hardwood bark.The holotype bears only mature, heavily pruinose apothecia, whereas the Sumter County collection includes younger apothecia with little pruina, suggesting that the pruinose coating develops as the apothecia age. It was contrasted with Calopadia editiae, C. puiggarii, and C. perpallida.