Verrucoplaca

Verrucoplaca is a monotypic fungal genus in the family Teloschistaceae. It contains the single species Verrucoplaca verruculifera, a widely distributed saxicolous, crustose lichen that grows on coastal rocks.

Taxonomy

The genus Verrucoplaca was circumscribed in 2014 by lichenologists Sergey Kondratyuk, Ingvar Kärnefelt, John [Alan Elix], Arne Thell, and Jae-Seoun Hur, following a molecular phylogenetics-led restructuring of the subfamily Xanthorioideae. The type species was originally described in 1905 by Finnish lichenologist Edvard August Vainio as a species of Placodium, and it was later proposed for inclusion in the genera Caloplaca, Gasparrinia, and Polycauliona.

Verrucoplaca is characterized by a thallus with a rosette-like structure with. It contains secondary chemical compounds known as anthraquinones. Its cortical layer, which is the protective outer layer, is structured in a palisade manner. The apothecia are of the type. Within the apothecia, the layer beneath the spore-producing surface, known as the , is dotted with oil droplets. Verrucoplaca has a distinctive, a protective rim around the apothecia. The lichen produces conidia that are narrowly oval in shape. A primary distinguishing chemical component of this genus are the anthraquinones associated with the parietin.