Huriella flakusii

Huriella flakusii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Teloschistales
Family: Teloschistaceae
Genus: Huriella
Species:
H. flakusii
Binomial name
Huriella flakusii
Wilk (2020)
Holotype: Valle del Colca, Peru

Huriella flakusii is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling) crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae.[1] It is found in the Colca Canyon region of southern Peru.

Taxonomy

The species was described in 2020 from semi-desert localities in the Arequipa Region, and the epithet honors the Polish lichenologist Adam Flakus. DNA data place it in the subfamily Xanthorioideae (AmundseniaSquamulea group), as sister to Huriella loekoesiana from South Korea.[2]

Description

The thallus is orange and squamulose (made of small scales), sometimes strongly reduced, and it lacks soredia and isidia. Apothecia (fruiting bodies) are abundant and often crowded together, typically 0.2–1.0 mm wide, with a reddish disc and a double margin. The thallus and apothecial tissues react K+ (purple) due to anthraquinone pigments. Ascospores are polarilocular and broadly ellipsoid, measuring 10–15 × 5.0–9.5 μm with a septum that is 2–4 μm. Pycnidia are immersed in the thallus and produce bacilliform conidia 3–4 × 1 μm.[2]

Habitat and distribution

Huriella flakusii grows on siliceous rock in open, arid montane habitats at about 3,310–3,500 m (10,860–11,480 ft) elevation, and is known only from a few collections near Achoma and Cabanaconde in the Colca Canyon area.[2]

References

  1. ^ "Huriella flakusii Wilk". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved December 26, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c Wilk, Karina (2020). "Huriella flakusii (Teloschistaceae, lichenized Ascomycota), a new species from the Colca Canyon region in Peru". The Lichenologist. 52 (1): 37–47. doi:10.1017/S0024282919000458.