Trypetheliopsis kassamensis

Trypetheliopsis kassamensis is a species of corticolous crustose lichen in the family Monoblastiaceae. The species was first described in 1997 by Emmanuël Sérusiaux as Musaespora kassamensis, based on material from Kassam Pass in Papua New Guinea, and was transferred to Trypetheliopsis in 2009; it has since been recorded from Costa Rica. It is distinguished from related species by a saffron to orange-yellow pigment inside its spore-producing structures that turns carmine red with potassium hydroxide solution.

Taxonomy

The lichen was first formally described in 1997 by Emmanuël Sérusiaux, as Musaespora kassamensis. The type specimen was collected from Kassam Pass at an elevation of around 1400 m.
In 2009, following a study of numerous herbarium specimens of collected in Japan, Kashiwadani and colleagues "resurrected" the genus Trypetheliopsis and reclassified several species within it. They also determined that Musaespora was closely related to Trypetheliopsis, and established Musaespora as a synonym of that genus. As part of this revision Aptroot proposed the new combination Trypetheliopsis kassamensis for Sérusiaux's species.

Description

Trypetheliopsis kassamensis differs from the otherwise similar species T. gigas and T. kalbii in a small but distinctive set of microscopic features. Inside the tube of the, it has a saffron to orange-yellow pigment that turns carmine red when treated with potassium hydroxide solution. Its are in structure, brown to grey in colour, slightly flattened, and have a depressed ostiole.

Habitat and distribution

Trypetheliopsis kassamensis is a corticolous lichen. In its type locality, it was found growing on a small tree in a highly disturbed forest on the side of a road. It has since been recorded from Costa Rica.