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Lecanora hypoptoides (Nyl.) Nyl.
Family: Lecanoraceae
Lecanora hypoptoides image
Thallus: warted-areolate, areoles coalescing to form a rimose crust areoles: irregular in outline, moderately to strongly convex surface: pale gray, sometimes with a green or beige hue, dull, esorediate Apothecia: ±biatorine to lecanorine, rounded to slightly irregular in outline, single or densely crowded, sessile with a constricted base, 0.25-0.7(-0.95) mm in diam. disc: dark gray to black, rarely reddish brown or ochre, flat to moderately convex, dull, sometimes with a faint white or blue pruina when wet margin: weakly prominent when young, ±persistent, rarely excluded with age or lacking from the beginning, concolorous with disc, dull amphithecium: with algae mostly concentrated at the base, laterally 25-35 µm wide, basally 25-100 µm wide parathecium: greenish brown or ochre at the edge, internally colorless to pale brown, composed of radiating, moderately branched and anastomosing hyphae with lumina c. 1 µm, apically up to 3 µm wide epihymenium: greenish brown, dark brown or nearly black, formed by brown granules and dark green paraphysal tips, 5-15 µm thick hymenium: hyaline, 30-35 µm tall; paraphyses: basally hyaline, apically dark green, weakly branched and anastomosing, with lumina 1-1.2 µm below and 1-2 µm wide apically; subhymenium: hyaline, 30-45 µm high; hypothecium: hyaline, 40-85 µm high asci: clavate, 8-spored, with an I+ blue tholus containing a lighter blue, broad and tapering axial body ascospores: colorless, simple, (6.5-)8.2-10.2(-12) x (2-)2.3-2.8(-3.5) µm Pycnidia: not observed Spot tests: thallus K-, C-, KC-, P-, epihymenium and exciple N+ violaceous Secondary metabolites: none detected by TLC. Substrate and ecology: on wood, rarely on bark of Pseudotsuga meziensii, between 500 and 3000 m World distribution: unknown Sonoran distribution: Arizona and southern California. Notes: The species belongs to the poorly known group of superficially biatorine Lecanora species with dark apothecia. Lecanora hypoptoides also has an N+ violaceous epihymenium, but has broader spores. Until a thorough revision of the group the species cannot be assigned any name.