Pulvinora
| Pulvinora | |
|---|---|
| |
| Pulvinora pringlei in Wells Gray Provincial Park, British Columbia. Scale bar is 5 mm | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Lecanorales |
| Family: | Lecanoraceae |
| Genus: | Pulvinora Davydov, Yakovch. & Printzen (2021) |
| Type species | |
| Pulvinora stereothallina Davydov & Yakovch. (2021)
| |
| Species | |
Pulvinora is a small genus of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichens in the family Lecanoraceae. It has two species.[1][2] The genus was established in 2021 when DNA studies revealed that two species previously classified in the genus Lecanora actually formed their own distinct evolutionary lineage. These lichens are distinguished by their unusual cushion-like growth form with tiny scale-like structures at the tips of branched, stalk-like projections, and their black fruiting bodies that start with raised rims but eventually become strongly domed.
Taxonomy
[edit]The genus Pulvinora was circumscribed in 2021 by Evgeny Davydov, Lidia Yakovchenko, and Christian Printzen after multilocus analyses showed that the North-American Lecanora pringlei and a morphologically similar Altai Mountains taxon formed a well-supported lineage distinct from Lecanora in the broad sense. The authors erected the new genus Pulvinora within Lecanoraceae, designated P. stereothallina as the type species and transferred L. pringlei as P. pringlei comb. nov. Other members of the "L. pringlei group", in particular L. subcavicola and L. brandegeei, were shown to fall outside this clade and were therefore excluded from Pulvinora. As currently understood, the genus contains two species: P. stereothallina (Altai–Sayan Mountains) and P. pringlei (western North America).[3]
Phylogenetically, Pulvinora forms the sister lineage to Frutidella within Lecanoraceae, although support for that relationship is moderate. It is readily distinguished from both Frutidella and superficially similar genera such as Miriquidica by a combination of characters: black, initially marginate but soon strongly convex mycolecanorine apothecia (the algal layer is displaced beneath the hymenium but the thalline rim persists) bearing Lecanora-type asci; a cushion-forming, pseudopodetioid (pulvinate) thallus whose tips end in bullate to squamulose lobes; and secondary chemistry centred on psoromic, stictic or alectorialic acid derivatives. In Frutidella the apothecia are yellow-brown, biatorine and have Biatora-type asci, while Miriquidica lacks the stalked, cushion-like growth form and shows a different chemical profile. These anatomical, chemical and molecular features taken together justify recognition of Pulvinora as a distinct genus within the Lecanoraceae.[3]
Description
[edit]Pulvinora species have asci similar to those found in genus Lecanora. Their apothecia are mycolecanorine, meaning they are lecanorine (and so have a thalline margin with an intact cortex), but without photobiont cells in the thalline exciple. The apothecia eventually become convex with an algal layer that is pushed below the hypothecium. The form of the thallus is pulvinate (resembling tiny cushions), with squamules (scales) at the tips of pale brownish, branched structures similar to pseudopodetia.[3]
Species
[edit]- Pulvinora pringlei (Tuck.) Davydov, Yakovch., Hollinger, Bungartz & Printzen (2021)
- Pulvinora stereothallina Davydov & Yakovch. (2021)
References
[edit]- ^ Wijayawardene, N.N.; Hyde, K.D.; Dai, D.Q.; Sánchez-García, M.; Goto, B.T.; Saxena, R.K.; et al. (2022). "Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa – 2021". Mycosphere. 13 (1): 53–453. doi:10.5943/mycosphere/13/1/2.
- ^ "Pulvinora". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
- ^ a b c Davydov, Evgeny A.; Yakovchenko, Lidia S.; Hollinger, Jason; Bungartz, Frank; Parrinello, Christian; Printzen, Christian (2021). "The new genus Pulvinora (Lecanoraceae) for species of the 'Lecanora pringlei' group, including the new species Pulvinora stereothallina". The Bryologist. 124 (2): 242–256. doi:10.1639/0007-2745-124.2.242.