Synalissina


Synalissina is a genus of saxicolous cyanolichens placed in the family Lichinellaceae. These tiny lichens form blackish, variable growths, ranging from small leaf-like patches to dwarf cushions, on calcareous and mineral-rich rocks in exposed to partially shaded locations. The genus was originally described by William Nylander in 1886 but fell into disuse until it was resurrected in 2024 following DNA studies that reorganised cyanolichen classification. It comprises nine species distributed across boreal to warm-temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

Taxonomy

Synalissina was originally erected by the Finnish lichenologist William Nylander in 1886. Nylander placed the genus under his tribe "Collemei" and explained the name as referring to the "hormogonia-bearing gonidia" ; he included Synalissina intricata, transferring Ferdinand [Christian Gustav Arnold|Arnold]'s Omphalaria intricata, and cited records from Tyrol and Scotland.
The name Synalissina was resurrected by María Prieto, Mats Wedin and Matthias Schultz in their 2024 study to accommodate a clade within the family Lichinellaceae that had previously been included in Lempholemma. In their formal they characterise Synalissina as a genus of Lichinellaceae with a Nostoc cyanobiont, apothecia that originate from arising in a spheroid tangle of generative hyphae, and Peccania-type asci. They verified multiple new combinations in the genus and note the exclusive occurrence on rock.

Description

of Synalissina are blackish, very small and variable in form: from small foliose through small - to dwarf- cushions. They are and , with hyphae forming a loose network around chains of Nostoc; the thallus swells markedly when wet and attaches by or a small. Some species develop terminal ; isidiose or phyllidiose outgrowths are rare. Fruiting bodies are small, or short-stalked at branch tips, zeorine ; the hymenium is iodine-positive. Asci are Peccania-type and eight-spored; ascospores are . Pycnidia are immersed in the thallus to slightly elevated and produce small, to ellipsoid conidia. No secondary metabolites were detected by thin-layer chromatography.

Habitat and distribution

Species of Synalissina are early colonisers of calcareous or mineral-rich rocks, on exposed through steep and somewhat shaded faces, including temporarily moist situations. The genus is reported as widely distributed across boreal to warm-temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

Species

Synalissina botryosa Synalissina cladodes Synalissina condensata Synalissina degeliana Synalissina dispansa Synalissina intricata Synalissina intricatissima Synalissina isidiodes