A further new species in the lichen genus Arctomia: A. borbonica from Reunion (Mascarene archipelago)
Author
Magain, Nicolas
Author
Serusiaux, Emmanuel
text
MycoKeys
2012
4
9
21
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.4.2809
journal article
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/mycokeys.4.2809
1314-4049--9
Arctomia borbonica Magain &
Serus
sp. nov.
Fig. 2
Diagnosis.
Species recognized by its foliose, usually much crumpled, blue grey to brown thallus producing goniocysts at its margins, eventually forming a soredioid margin. Ascomata and conidiomata unknown.
Type.
REUNION (Mascarene archipelago).
Foret
de
Bebour
, track starting at
Gite
de
Belouve
toward Piton des Neiges,
21°4'49"S
,
55°31'24"E
(DMS), 1850 m alt., 9 Nov 2009, wet montane ericoid tickets, N. Magain & E.
Serusiaux
sn (holotype: LG).
Description.
Thallus not exceeding 1 cm in diam., with distinct lobes when well-developed, lobes blue-grey to brown when dry, up to 0.2-0.3 mm wide and c. 200-400
µm
thick, hardly distinguished in some specimens, with a surface typically wrinkled (even in young lobes), sometimes very much
"crumpled"
, always developing small goniocysts, mainly at the margins but also on the upper surface; cortex (Fig. 2
C-E
) developed on upper and lower sides, formed by a single layer of small rounded (in cross section) and jigsaw-like (in surface view) cells, less than 5
µm
thick; goniocysts (Fig. 2F) 20-80
µm
across, always containing compact chains of
Nostoc
cells and covered by a layer of isodiametric to rounded cells, 2-5
µm
, best developed at the lobes margins where they eventually form a typical pale brownish soredioid edge, due to cortical disintegration. Photobiont belonging to the cyanobacteria genus
Nostoc
forming chains of small rounded cells 2-5
µm
in diam. Ascomata and conidiomata unknown.
Figure 2.
Arctomia borbonica
(holotype).
A-B
macroscopic view of the thallus, with details of the wrinkled surface B and soredioid margin, made of disintegrating goniocysts
C-D
cross section through the thallus, showing the cortex with small, isodiametric cells, and the
Nostoc
chains E surface view of the cortex F young goniocysts formed at the lobes margins. Scale:
A-B
= 1 mm;
C-E
= 20
µm
.
Chemistry.
No secondary metabolites found by TLC.
Notes.
The material looks like a species in
Leptogium
, a genus belonging to the
Collemataceae
in the
Lecanoromycetidae
(
Lumbsch and Huhndorf 2010
). Soredia or soredioid propagules are however unknown in that genus as well as in the closely related
Collema
.
Arctomia borbonica
is easily recognized by its foliose, sometimes very much crumpled, blue grey to brown thallus, producing corticate and easily detached " goniocysts ", best developed at the lobes margins, disrupting when mature and then forming a soredioid margin.
Distribution
and ecology.
Arctomia borbonica
has been collected at three different sites on the island of Reunion in the Mascarene archipepago, incl. in highly disturbed secondary tickets with
Eucalyptus
plantations; it grows on trunks (
Eucalyptus
,
Acacia heterophylla
)
or
on main stems of
Erica
tickets. It is probably widespread on the island. The two localities with natural vegetation belong to two different and typical habitats. The first one is the margin of the
"Foret
de tamarins des hauts" with large boles of the endemic tree
Acacia heterophylla
(locality at the nature reserve "Roche Ecrite", at 1500 m) and corresponds to the "
Acacia
mountain forest" in
Strasberg et al. (2005)
. The other one is the wet upper montane ericoid tickets (type locality; locality in the
Bebour
forest at 1800-1850 m) and corresponds to the "
Philippia
mountain ticket" in
Strasberg et al. (2005)
. Here the vegetation does not exceed 4-5 m in height and is formed by
Erica arborescens
,
Erica montana
,
Eugenia buxifolia
,
Agauria buxifolia
,
Cordyline mauritiana
(locally very abundant),
Cyathea
sp.,
Phylica nitida
,
Astelia hemichrysa
,
Blechnum attenuatum
; ground is covered by very thick (up to 80 cm) layer of
Sphagnum
and other bryophytes. It is one of the most rewarding habitat for lichens on Reunion, with many interesting species, including representatives of the austral element (
van den Boom et al. 2011
), such as
Gomphillus morchelloides
,
Gomphillus pedersenii
and
Sporopodiopsis mortimeriana
.
Other specimens examined.
REUNION (Masarenes archipelago). Nature reserve at Roche Ecrite, track to the summit,
20°58'6"S
,
55°26'26"E
(DMS), c. 1500 m alt., 4 nov 2009, montane forest dominated by
Acacia heterophylla
, N. Magain & E.
Serusiaux
sn (LG). S part of the island, N of St-Philippe, near "
gite
Bernard Brice ",
21°20'23"S
,
55°41'55"E
(DMS), 650 m alt., 10 Nov 2009,
Eucalyptus
plantations and secondary tickets, N. Magain & E.
Serusiaux
sn (LG).