Helocarpon erraticum
| Helocarpon erraticum | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Lecanorales |
| Family: | Ectolechiaceae |
| Genus: | Helocarpon |
| Species: | H. erraticum
|
| Binomial name | |
| Helocarpon erraticum (Körb.) M.Svenss., Myllys & Kantel. (2026)
| |
| Synonyms[1][2] | |
|
List
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Helocarpon erraticum is a species of crustose lichen in the family Ectolechiaceae. It grows mainly on siliceous rock and is a widely distributed species.
Taxonomy
The lichen was originally described in 1861 by German lichenologist Gustav Wilhelm Körber as Lecidea erratica.[3] It was later treated in a broad sense within Micarea, and in 2009 Richard C. Harris and James Lendemer erected the genus Leimonis for it, emphasizing its saxicolous habit and its comparatively well-developed thallus and exciple.[4][1]
A five-locus phylogeny published in 2026 recovered Helocarpon as a strongly supported clade sister to Micarea and showed that Leimonis (based on erratica) falls within Helocarpon as circumscribed there. That revision reduced Leimonis to synonymy and made the new combination Helocarpon erraticum.[1]
Description
In the 2026 revision, H. erraticum was described as forming a rather thick, olive-green to grey-green crust that cracks into small angular patches (rimose–areolate). Its fruiting bodies (apothecia) are numerous, very small (to about 0.4 mm across), and dark brown to blackish. The spores are narrow and colourless, and are usually simple but may have a single septum (1-septate).[1]
Habitat and distribution
Helocarpon erraticum is mostly saxicolous and occurs chiefly on siliceous rocks, where it can behave as an early coloniser of exposed mineral surfaces. The 2026 revision characterised it as widely distributed.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e Myllys, Leena; Svensson, Måns; Kantvilas, Gintaras; Sérusiaux, Emmanuel; van den Boom, Pieter; Aptroot, André; Cezanne, Rainer; Eichler, Marion; Pino-Bodas, Raquel; Printzen, Christian; Pykälä, Juha; Thor, Göran; Westberg, Martin; Weber, Lilith; Kantelinen, Annina (2026). "The first comprehensive multilocus phylogeny of the lichenized genus Micarea (Ectolechiaceae, Ascomycota)". Taxon. 75 (1) e70087. doi:10.1002/tax.70087.
- ^ "Synonymy. Current Name: Leimonis erratica (Körb.) R.C. Harris & Lendemer, Opuscula Philolichenum 6: 151 (2009)". Species Fungorum. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
- ^ Körber, Gustav Wilhelm (1861). Parerga lichenologica. Ergänzungen zum Systema lichenum Germaniae (in Latin). Vol. 3. Breslau: E. Trewendt. p. 233.
- ^ Harris, R.C. (2009). "Four novel lichen taxa in the lichen biota of eastern North America". Opuscula Philolichenum. 6: 151.