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.