Caloplaca lecapustulata
Caloplaca lecapustulata is a species of saxicolous, crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. Found in Brazil, it was described as a new species in 2016.
Taxonomy
Caloplaca lecapustulata was formally described as a new species by the lichenologists André Aptroot and Marcela Cáceres. The type specimen was collected by the authors in Brazil, within the state of Ceará at Açude Cedro, specifically along the trail of Pedra da Galinha. This collection took place on a gneiss inselberg within the Caatinga biome, at an elevation of about above sea level.Description
Caloplaca lecapustulata is characterised by a crustose,, and slightly shiny thallus that is grey in colour. It features that can appear to somewhat flattened or slightly folded, ranging from round to angular shapes, each about 0.2 to 1.0 mm in diameter, situated on a black base layer known as the. The thickness of the thallus is approximately 100 to 220 μm, with a loosely structured medulla and a cortex that is and contains tiny crystals of a substance called atranorin, measuring about 10 to 18 μm thick. The lichen houses algae, with cells measuring about 6 to 11 μm in diameter. This species does not produce vegetative propagules.The apothecia of Caloplaca lecapustulata are numerous, spread out, and , with a concave, chocolate brown, glossy that ranges from 0.4 to 1.0 mm in diameter and 0.3 to 0.7 mm in height. The margins are grey, glossy, and incurved with some incisions, significantly elevated above the disc and about 0.2 mm wide. Similar to the thallus, the cortex around the margin of the apothecium is filled with atranorin crystals, and the medulla in this area contains algae. The hymenium is about 75 to 95 μm high, with a colourless , a clear measuring about 50 to 75 μm high, and a brown about 7 to 12 μm high. The paraphyses are sparingly branched at the tips and widen towards the end.
The, numbering eight per ascus, are hyaline by 5.0 to 5.5 μm. They are about twice as long as they are wide, with a septum that is about 5.0 to 5.5 μm thick, occupying roughly half the length of the ascospore. Pycnidia have not been observed to occur in this species.