Fuscidea muskeg
Fuscidea muskeg is a species of crustose lichen in the family Fuscideaceae. Found in Alaska, it was described as a new species in 2020 by Tor Tønsberg and Martina Zahradníková. The type species was collected in the Hoonah-Angoon Census Area of Glacier Bay National Park. Here it was found growing on a branch of the tree Pinus contorta in muskeg. The specific epithet muskeg is an Algonquin word for a blanket bog.
Description
Fuscidea muskeg has a crust-like thallus that grows on bark. It forms rounded patches up to a few centimeters in diameter and 0.5 mm thick. The patches are made of discrete, convex areoles measuring in diameter, with a color ranging from pale greenish to greenish with a yellowish tinge. The areoles eventually burst at the top and form soralia. The soralia are initially discrete, but aggregate later, and in some instances form a granular layer throughout the thallus surface.The photobiont partner of Fuscidea muskeg is trebouxioid – a spherical, one-celled green alga. They measure from 8 to 18 μm in diameter. The results of standard lichen spot tests are thallus PD+, and C+. The lichen contains alectorialic acid.
Fuscidea praeruptorum is similar in appearance to F. muskeg but has somewhat longer ascospores, and it grows on rocks rather than on bark.