Oxneriopsis
Oxneriopsis is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It has four species of corticolous, crustose lichens.
Taxonomy
The genus was circumscribed in 2017 by the lichenologists Sergey Kondratyuk, Dalip [Kumar Upreti], and Jae-Seoun Hur, with Oxneriopsis oxneri assigned as the type species. The genus name honours the Ukrainian lichenologist Alfred Mycolayovych Oxner.Description
Oxneriopsis features crustose lichens with a thallus that can be continuous, cracked, or divided into small, isolated units. Often, this thallus forms vegetative reproductive structures, known as or, which are typically bright yellow or greenish-yellow, contrasting with the greyish or greenish-grey background of the main thallus.Their fruiting bodies vary from to , and exhibit a range of colours from yellow and orange-brown to dark brown or even blackish brown. The thalline margin of the apothecia is usually a striking bright yellow. The hymenium, the tissue layer containing the spore-producing asci, is interspersed with oil. Each ascus typically contains eight spores that are and hyaline. The conidia of Oxneriopsis are rod-shaped, measuring between 2.5 and 3.5 μm in length and 0.8 to 1 μm in width.
Chemically, the genus is noted for the presence of fragilin in some species, but the chemical composition across all species within the genus is not thoroughly studied.