Syncesia indica

Syncesia indica is a species of corticolous crustose lichen in the family Roccellaceae. Found in southern India, it was formally described as a new species in 2011 by Santosh Joshi and Dalip Kumar Upreti. The type was collected from an evergreen forest in the Shradighat region of Karnataka.

Description

The thallus of Syncesia indica is crustose and grows on bark. It forms a greyish white to pale grey crust with a slightly felted surface that becomes cracked, and it produces -like structures. The thallus is about 140–300 μm thick. The fruiting bodies are and sit directly on the thallus, forming compound structures up to about 3 mm across. The extends down into the medulla. The ascospores are colourless, fusiform, and 3-septate, measuring 15–22 × 2–4 μm. The thallus contains protocetraric acid as a major secondary metabolite and trace amounts of roccellic acid.