Pulvinora pringlei
Pulvinora pringlei is a species of saxicolous crustose lichen in the family Lecanoraceae. It has a distinctive cushion-forming thallus and black apothecia that become strongly domed as they mature. The species is known from North America.
Taxonomy
The species was first described in 1883 by Edward Tuckerman as Lecidea pringlei. It was later transferred to Lecanora as Lecanora pringlei by Elke Mackenzie.Work on the "Lecanora pringlei group" led to its removal from Lecanora in the broad sense. In 2021, the genus Pulvinora was established for this lineage, and the species was recombined as Pulvinora pringlei. A later study using a three-locus phylogeny supported this placement and showed that Lecanora cavicola and L. subcavicola form a strongly supported sister clade to P. pringlei and the Eurasian P. stereothallina, supporting an expanded circumscription of Pulvinora.
Description
Pulvinora pringlei forms small cushions made of short, branched, stalk-like outgrowths whose tips end in convex, scale-like units. Its apothecia are black and strongly convex; they retain a but have the displaced beneath the spore-producing tissues.The apothecia are typically solitary, and the colorless ascospores measure about 7.5–10.0 × 3.0–4.5 μm. Chemically, the species contains atranorin together with alectorialic and psoromic acids, and it may also contain norstictic acid.