Phlyctis psoromica
Phlyctis psoromica is a species of corticolous crustose lichen in the family Phlyctidaceae. Native to New South Wales, Australia, it was described as new to science in 2011. This lichen is characterised by its whitish to pale blue-grey crustose thallus and distinctive secondary chemistry.
Taxonomy
Phlyctis psoromica was first scientifically described by Australian lichenologists John Elix and Gintaras Kantvilas. The species is similar to Phlyctis subuncinata, P. sordidae, and P. uncinatae but contains psoromic acid and has smaller. The type specimen was collected by the first author from the Stockyard Creek Rest Area in Cottan-Bimbang National Park at an altitude of ; there, in a wet Eucalyptus forest, it was found growing on Acacia.Description
The thallus of Phlyctis psoromica is crustose, 40–80 μm thick, and whitish to very pale blue-grey or greenish-grey in colour. It is, scurfy or, and typically forms irregularly spreading patches wide. The lichen lacks isidia and soredia but often becomes ulcerous, eroded and granular near the apothecia. The is with more or less spherical cells 6–12 μm wide.Apothecia are 0.1–0.4 mm wide and usually aggregated in clusters. Ascospores are hyaline, fusiform, and transversely septate, measuring 30–52 μm long and 4–6 μm wide. The lichen's secondary chemistry includes psoromic acid, which is unique to this species among its close relatives.