Menegazzia minuta
Menegazzia minuta is a rare species of foliose lichen that is endemic to Tasmania, Australia. It was scientifically described as a new species in 1987 by lichenologists Peter James and Gintaras Kantvilas. The type specimen was collected by the second author south of Arthur River, where the lichen was found in a rainforest growing on twigs of leatherwood (Eucryphia lucida). The species epithet minuta refers to the small size of its thallus. Menegazzia minuta contains protolichesterinic acid, a lichen product that helps to distinguish it from the similar species Menegazzia eperforata, which instead contains stictic acid and related compounds.[1] In a 2012 publication, Kantvilas called M. minuta "one of Tasmania's rarest lichens", characterised by a "glossy olive-brown thallus of minute, spidery lobes, densely beset with lobule-like isidia".[2]
| Menegazzia minuta | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Lecanorales |
| Family: | Parmeliaceae |
| Genus: | Menegazzia |
| Species: | M. minuta |
| Binomial name | |
| Menegazzia minuta | |
See also
References
- Kantvilas, G.; James, P. W. (1987). "The macrolichens of Tasmanian rainforest: key and notes". The Lichenologist. 19 (1): 1–28. doi:10.1017/s0024282987000033.
- Kantvilas, Gintaras (2012). "The genus Menegazzia (Lecanorales: Parmeliaceae) in Tasmania revisited". The Lichenologist. 44 (2): 189–246. doi:10.1017/s0024282911000685.