- Source: Verrucoplaca
Verrucoplaca is a monotypic fungal genus in the family Teloschistaceae. It contains the single species Verrucoplaca verruculifera, a widely distributed saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen that grows on coastal rocks.
Taxonomy
The genus Verrucoplaca was circumscribed in 2014 by lichenologists Sergey Kondratyuk, Ingvar Kärnefelt, John Alan Elix, Arne Thell, and Jae-Seoun Hur, following a molecular phylogenetics-led restructuring of the subfamily Xanthorioideae. The type species was originally described in 1905 by Finnish lichenologist Edvard August Vainio as a species of Placodium, and it was later proposed for inclusion in the genera Caloplaca, Gasparrinia, and Polycauliona.
Description
Verrucoplaca is characterized by a thallus with a rosette-like structure with lobes. It contains secondary chemical compounds known as anthraquinones. Its cortical layer, which is the protective outer layer, is structured in a palisade plectenchymatous manner. The apothecia are of the zeorine type. Within the apothecia, the layer beneath the spore-producing surface, known as the subhymenium, is dotted with oil droplets. Verrucoplaca has a distinctive true exciple, a protective rim around the apothecia. The lichen produces conidia (asexual spores) that are narrowly oval in shape. A primary distinguishing chemical component of this genus are the anthraquinones associated with the parietin chemosyndrome.
