Vezdaea
| Vezdaea | |
|---|---|
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| Vezdaea retigera | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Subdivision: | Pezizomycotina |
| Order: | Vezdaeales Lumbsch & Lücking (2016) |
| Family: | Vezdaeaceae Poelt & Vězda ex J.C.David & D.Hawksw. (1991) |
| Genus: | Vezdaea Tscherm.-Woess & Poelt (1976) |
| Type species | |
| Vezdaea aestivalis (Ohlert) Tscherm.-Woess & Poelt (1976)
| |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Vezdaea is a genus of crustose lichens in the monotypic family Vezdaeaceae, which itself is the only taxon in the order Vezdaeales.[2] The genus was established in 1976 and named after the Czech lichenologist Antonín Vězda for his contributions to lichen science. These lichens form extremely thin crusts that appear as dustings of tiny greenish to grey particles on decaying moss, plant debris, and soil, particularly in metal-enriched environments that other lichens avoid. The genus contains 14 species.
Taxonomy
[edit]The genus was circumscribed by Elisabeth Tschermak-Woess and Josef Poelt in 1976.[3] The genus name honours the Czech lichenologist Antonín Vězda (1920–2008).[4]
The family name Vezdaeaceae was originally proposed by Poelt and Vězda in 1981;[5] the proposal, however, did not meet the formal requirements of the International Code of Nomenclature: Poelt and Vězda omitted a Latin (or otherwise Code-compliant) description and did not designate the type genus, so under Articles 32.1(c) and 36.1 the name was not validly published.[6] The family was later publisher validly by John Charles David and David Hawksworth in 1991.[7] The order Vezdaeales was published by H. Thorsten Lumbsch and Robert Lücking in 2016 to accommodate the isolate family Vezdaeaceae and its single genus.[8]
Description
[edit]Vezdaea forms an extremely thin crust that appears as a dusting of minute, grain-like greenish to grey particles on its chosen substrate. Each particle is a goniocyst—a tight ball of algal cells wrapped in a thin fungal jacket—which gives the thallus a powdery look rather than a continuous skin. Colonies may begin hidden under the surface layers of decaying leaves, moss tissue or even beneath the cortex of other lichens, but they usually break through and develop on the surface as they mature. The photosynthetic partner is from the filamentous green algal genus Leptosira. No specialised vegetative propagules (such as soredia or isidia) have been recorded, and thin-layer chromatography has failed to detect any characteristic lichen products.[9]
The sexual structures are tiny half-sphere to top-shaped apothecia that remain almost invisible when dry in most species. They lack both a true outer wall (exciple) and the supporting tissue (hypothecium) found in many lichens, leaving the spore-bearing layer (hymenium) exposed once the apothecia swell with moisture. That layer is threaded with branched paraphyses which can clasp and intertwine around the spore sacs (asci) if well developed. The asci themselves resemble those of genus Pertusaria: eight-spored, cylindrical, with thick walls and a strongly blue staining reaction to potassium iodide except for a tiny apical pore. Their colourless ascospores vary from simple one-celled bodies to multi-septate forms, and may have smooth or slightly warted surfaces. Asexual reproduction is poorly understood; conventional pycnidia have not been seen, but some hyphae bear conidiogenous cells that bud off colourless, rod-shaped spores.[9]
Ecology
[edit]Species of Vezdaea live chiefly on the ground, spreading across thin biological films that coat soil and plant debris. They are especially common on dying or decaying mats of mosses and other bryophytes, on the remains of older lichens, and on assorted microbial biofilms. Field records show a preference for soils enriched with metals—a harsh microhabitat that many competing lichens avoid—while occurrences on tree bark are uncommon.[9]
Species
[edit]As of June 2025[update], Species Fungorum (in the Catalogue of Life) accepts 14 species of Vezdaea:[10]
- Vezdaea acicularis Coppins (1987)[11]
- Vezdaea aestivalis (Ohlert)[12] Tscherm.-Woess & Poelt (1976)
- Vezdaea cobria Giralt, Poelt & Suanjak (1993)[13]
- Vezdaea dawsoniae Döbbeler (1979)[14]
- Vezdaea flava Aptroot & Sparrius (2003)[15]
- Vezdaea foliicola Sérus. (1979)[16]
- Vezdaea leprosa (P.James) Vězda (1977)[17]
- Vezdaea obscura Döbbeler (1981)[18]
- Vezdaea poeltiana S.Y.Kondr., Lőkös, J.P.Halda & Hur (2017)[19]
- Vezdaea polyspora Kalb & Vězda (1992)[20]
- Vezdaea retigera Poelt & Döbbeler (1977)[17]
- Vezdaea rheocarpa Poelt & Döbbeler (1977)[17]
- Vezdaea schuyleriana Lendemer (2011)[21]
- Vezdaea stipitata Poelt & Döbbeler (1977)[17]
References
[edit]- ^ "Synonymy:Vezdaea Tscherm.-Woess & Poelt, in Brown et al., Lichenology: Progress & Problems: 91 (1976)". Species Fungorum. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
- ^ Wijayawardene, Nalin; Hyde, Kevin; Al-Ani, Laith Khalil Tawfeeq; Somayeh, Dolatabadi; Stadler, Marc; Haelewaters, Danny; et al. (2020). "Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa". Mycosphere. 11: 1060–1456. doi:10.5943/mycosphere/11/1/8.
- ^ Tschermak-Woess, E.; Poelt, J. (1976). "Vezdaea, a peculiar lichen genus, and its phycobiont". In Brown, D.H.; Hawksworth, D.L.; Bailey, R.H. (eds.). Lichenology: Progress and Problems: Proceedings of an International Symposium Held at the University of Bristol. Systematics Association Special Volume. Vol. 8. London and New York: Academic Press. pp. 89–105 [91]. ISBN 978-0-12-136750-3.
- ^ Hertel, Hannes (2012). Gattungseponyme bei Flechten und Lichenicolen Pilzen [Genus eponyms among lichens and lichenicolous fungi]. Bibliotheca Lichenologica (in German). Vol. 107. Stuttgart: J. Cramer. p. 114. ISBN 978-3-443-58086-5.
- ^ Poelt, J.; Vězda, A. (1981). Bestimmungsschlüssel europäischer Flechten. Ergänzungsheft II [Identification key to European lichens – Supplement II]. Bibliotheca Lichenologica (in German). Vol. 26. Vaduz: J. Cramer. p. 3. ISBN 978-3-7682-1312-7.
- ^ "Record Details: Vezdaeaceae Poelt & Vězda, Biblthca Lichenol. 16: 3 (1981)". Index Fungorum. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ David, J.C; Hawksworth, D.L. (1991). "Validation of six family names of lichenized ascomycetes". Systema Ascomycetum. 10 (1): 13–18.
- ^ Jaklitsch, Walter; Baral, Hans-Otto; Lücking, Robert; Lumbsch, H. Thorsten (2016). Frey, Wolfgang (ed.). Syllabus of Plant Families: Adolf Engler's Syllabus der Pflanzenfamilien. Vol. 1/2 (13 ed.). Berlin Stuttgart: Gebr. Borntraeger Verlagsbuchhandlung, Borntraeger Science Publishers. pp. 118–119. ISBN 978-3-443-01089-8. OCLC 429208213.
- ^ a b c Chambers, S.; Cannon, P.; Coppins, B.; Simkin, J. (2021). Vezdaeales: Vezdaeaceae, including the genus Vezdaea (PDF). Revisions of British and Irish Lichens. Vol. 10. p. 2.
- ^ "Vezdaea". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 27 June 2025.
- ^ Coppins, B.J. (2007). "The genus Vezdaea in the British Isles". The Lichenologist. 19 (2): 167–176. doi:10.1017/S0024282987000136.
- ^ Ohlert, A. (1870). "Zusammenstellung der Lichenen der Provinz Preussen" [Compilation of the lichens of the Province of Prussia]. Schriften der Königlichen Physikalisch-Ökonomischen Gesellschaft zu Königsberg (in German). 11: 1–51 [16].
- ^ Giralt, M.; Poelt, J.; Suanjak, M. (1993). "Die Flechtengattung Vezdaea mit V. cobria spec. nov" [The lichen genus Vezdaea, with V. cobria sp. nov.]. Herzogia (in German). 9 (3–4): 715–724.
- ^ Döbbeler, P. (1979). "Vezdaea dawsoniae (Lecanorales) ein neuer Moosbewohner aus Neuguinea" [Vezdaea dawsoniae (Lecanorales): a new moss-dwelling species from New Guinea]. Herzogia (in German). 5 (1–2): 95–101. doi:10.1127/herzogia/5/1979/95.
- ^ Aptroot, A.; Sparrius, L.B. (2003). "New microlichens from Taiwan". Fungal Diversity. 14: 1–50.
- ^ Sérusiaux, E. (1979). "Contribution to the study of lichens from Kivu (Zaïre), Rwanda and Burundi. III. Vezdaea, a new genus for Africa". Mycotaxon. 8 (1): 135–139.
- ^ a b c d Poelt, J.; Döbbeler, P. (1977). "The genus Vezdaea: a supplement". The Lichenologist. 9 (2): 169–170. doi:10.1017/S0024282977000280.
- ^ Döbbeler, P. (1981). "Moosbewohnende Ascomyceten. V. Die auf Dawsonia vorkommenden Arten der Botanischen Staatssammlung München" [Moss-inhabiting Ascomycetes. V. The species found on Dawsonia in the Munich Botanical State Collection]. Mitteilungen aus der Botanischen Staatssammlung München (in German). 17: 393–473.
- ^ Kondratyuk, S.Y.; Lőkös, L.; Halda, J.P.; Roux, C.; Upreti, D.K.; Schumm, F.; Mishra, G.K.; Nayaka, S.; Farkas, E.; Park, J.S.; Lee, B.G.; Liu, D.; Woo, J.-J.; Hur, J.-S. (2017). "New and noteworthy lichen-forming and lichenicolous fungi 6" (PDF). Acta Botanica Hungarica. 59 (1–2): 137–260 [208]. doi:10.1556/034.59.2017.1-2.7.
- ^ Kalb, K.; Vězda, A. (1992). "Neue foliicole Flechten I" [New foliicolous lichens I]. Nova Hedwigia (in German). 55: 195–209.
- ^ Lendemer, J.C. (2010). "Vezdaea schuyleriana (Vezdaeaceae, Lichenized Ascomycetes), a new species from eastern North America". Notulae Naturae. 484: 1–4.