Calicium pinicola is a species of lignicolous (wood-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Caliciaceae. It is widely distributed in Europe, and also occurs in the United States.

Calicium pinicola
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Caliciales
Family: Caliciaceae
Genus: Calicium
Species:
C. pinicola
Binomial name
Calicium pinicola
(Tibell) M.Prieto & Wedin (2016)
Synonyms[1]
  • Cyphelium pinicola Tibell (1969)

Taxonomy edit

The lichen was first formally described as new to science in 1969 by Swedish lichenologist Leif Tibell, as Cyphelium pinicola.[2] Maria Prieto and Mats Wedin transferred it to the genus Calicium in 2016 following a molecular phylogenetics study of the Caliciaceae-Physciaceae clade.[3]

Description edit

Calicium pinicola has a yellowish-green, warty (verrucose) thallus that is quite thin and sometimes partially immersed in the substrate. Its apothecia are black, sessile with a partial constriction at the base, and measure 0.4–0.6 mm in diameter. The ascospores, which number eight per ascus are ellipsoid with a single septum, and measure 13–17 by 7–9 μm.[2]

Calicium pinicola contains rhizocarpic acid, a lichen product that presents as small yellow crystals in the cortex).[2]

Distribution edit

Calicium pinicola grows on decorticated wood, particularly that of Pinus sylvestris, but it has also been recorded on Betula and Larix. A preferred microhabitat is the dead twigs of living pine trees.[2]

In Switzerland, Calicium pinicola is threatened with extinction,[4] and it has been categorised as vulnerable in Italy.[5] Other countries from which it has been reported include Austria, Macedonia, the United States, Turkey,[6] and Kandalaksha in Arctic Russia.[2]

References edit

  1. ^ "Synonymy. Current Name: Calicium pinicola (Tibell) M. Prieto & Wedin, Fungal Diversity 82: 233 (2016)". Species Fungorum. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e Tibell, L. (1969). "The genus Cyphelium in Northern Europe" (PDF). Svensk Botanisk Tidskrift. 63: 465–485.
  3. ^ Prieto, Maria; Wedin, Mats (2016). "Phylogeny, taxonomy and diversification events in the Caliciaceae". Fungal Diversity. 82 (1): 221–238. doi:10.1007/s13225-016-0372-y.
  4. ^ Bürgi-Meyer, Karl; Dietrich, Michael (2011). "Cyphelium pinicola Tibell in den Nordalpen der Zentralschweiz Einblicke in den Flechtenreichtum der subalpinen Altwälder am Fusse des Gugels in der UNESCO Biosphäre Entlebuch, Kanton Luzern" (PDF). Meylania (in German). 47: 11–17.
  5. ^ Nascimbene, J.; Nimis, P.L.; Ravera, S. (2012). "Evaluating the conservation status of epiphytic lichens of Italy: A red list". Plant Biosystems. 147 (4): 898–904. doi:10.1080/11263504.2012.748101. hdl:10447/610973. S2CID 86320711.
  6. ^ Karagünlü, G.; Tufan-Çetin, Ö. (2020). "Noteworthy records of the lichenized and lichenicolous fungi from Alacadağ nature reserve (Fınıke-Antalya) in the Mediterranean region of Turkey". Applied Ecology and Environmental Research. 18 (1): 1691–1706. doi:10.15666/aeer/1801_16911706.