TYPE. UNITED KINGDOM. ENGLAND, “Leight. Lich. Brit. Exsic. 224. On oaks: “Newton Wood, Stagdale, and Oggeray Hillm Cleveland, Yorkshire” as cited in Leighton (1856). Possible type specimens include O 204726 and S F133344.
Description. Lichenized fungus.
Thallus crustose, thin, immersed or thinly powdery to scurfy-granular, effuse, whitish to orange-yellow, often with darker yellow to orange-yellow patches. Ascomata arthonioid apothecia roundish, convex, orange-red-brown to brown-black, usually dull, epruinose, 0.2–0.5 (–0.6) mm diam. Ascomatal section 85–140 µm tall, yellow-orange-red throughout or brown-red in upper hypothecium, K+ magenta and K+ purple with pigments dissolving; epithecium indistinct; hymenium 33–40 µm tall; hypothecium 45–100 µm tall; paraphysoids 0.5–1 (–1.5) µm diam., tips mostly neither swollen nor darkened, a few sometimes with dark walls and apical caps. Ascospores obovoid-ellipsoidal to clavate, 1-septate, hyaline, postmature brown and warted, 11–15 × 4–5 µm. Pycnidia frequent, 40–60 µm diam., wall red-brown, K+ purple; conidia bacilliform or slightly curved, (3.5–) 4–6 × ca 1 µm.
Substrate and Habitat. Corticolous on old trees, particularly Quercus.
Distribution. Australasia (Australia, New Zealand), Europe and North America.
Literature
Cannon, P., D. Ertz, A. Frisch, A. Aptroot, S. Chambers, B. Coppins, N. Sanderson, J. Simkin & P. Woseley. (2020). Arthoniales: Arthoniaceae. Revisions to the British and Irish Lichens1: 1-48.
Leighton, W.A. (1856) XXIX. - New British Arthoniae. Annals and Magazine of Natural History.ser. 2, 18: 330-333 (original description).
Elix, J.A., P.M. MCarthy, G. Kantvilas & A.W. Archer (2019) Additional lichen records from Australia 85. Australasian Lichenology84: 55–71.