Fissurina aggregatula
Fissurina aggregatula is a lichen that forms a thin, crust-like growth on bark and belongs to the family Graphidaceae. It was first described from Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park in southwestern Florida. There, it forms small clusters of short, and standard chemical tests did not detect any lichen substances.
Taxonomy
The species was described as new in 2011 by Ralph Common and Robert Lücking, based on specimens collected in Collier County, Florida. The holotype was gathered in April 1997 along the K2 trail in a second-growth area among royal palms. It is housed in the herbarium of the Michigan State University Museum. The epithet aggregatula refers to the tightly clustered arrangement of the lirellae on the thallus surface.Description
The thallus forms a crust on bark, typically across and about 40–80 μm thick. The surface is uneven to distinctly roughened, often warty or blistered, and ranges from yellowish green to olive-brown. Its is a alga.The fruiting structures are fissurine lirellae, arranged in dense, small clusters. Individual lirellae are straight to curved, usually unbranched, and about 0.3–0.7 mm long. In these lirellae, the is concealed, and the lips are thick and yellowish white. Microscopically, the asci are and usually contain eight ellipsoid ascospores. The ascospores are 3-septate, about 14–20 × 7–9 μm, and non-amyloid. Chemical screening did not detect any lichen substances.