Porpidia circumnigrata


Porpidia circumnigrata is a species of crustose lichen in the family Lecideaceae found Montenegro.

Taxonomy

The lichen was first formally described in 1979 by the Czech lichenologist Antonín Vězda, who placed it in the genus Huilia as Huilia circumnigrata. However, in 2008, researchers Knežević and Mayrhofer transferred it to the genus Porpidia, based on modern taxonomic analysis.

Description

The thallus of Porpidia circumnigrata is crustose, forming a thin, continuous crust tightly attached to the substrate. It is typically greyish-white in colour.
The reproductive structures, or apothecia, are common. These lecideine apothecia are round, sessile, and usually black in colour with a diameter ranging from 0.1 to 0.4 mm.

Distribution

Porpidia circumnigrata is known only from a single locality in Montenegro: above the village of Morinj at an elevation of approximately 50 meters.

Habitat

The primary habitat is on siliceous rocks, pebbles, and stonework. It has also been rarely recorded on bark, wood, and compacted soil.