28
GLOSSARY
(from P.L. Nimis & S. Martellos -
Keys to the lichens of Italy. I. Terricolous species
. Edizioni Goliardiche,
Trieste, 341 pp, 2004, slightly modified)
Acicular
(of spores): needle-like, very narrow and long, e.g. those of
Arthrorhaphis
.
Acuminate
(of spores): pointed, with acute ends.
Adglutinate
(of paraphyses): not easily detachable from each other, almost glued together.
Adnate
(of apothecia): not restricted at the base.
Adpressed
(of thallus): closely adhering to the substrate.
Amyloid
(of asci, or thallus parts): reacting
J
+ blue.
Anastomosing
(of paraphyses): branched, the branches joining irregularly, forming a net; e.g.
those of
Micarea
.
Angiocarp
(of ascocarps): the
hymenium
is not exposed until the asci are mature. This term is
not used in our keys. See also
hemiangiocarp
.
Anisotomic
(of thallus parts): dividing in unequal parts, with a division which is thicker or/and
longer then the others; e.g. the branching of
Alectoria nigricans
. See also
dichotomic,
isotomic, tetrachtomous
,
trichotomous
.
Anticlinally
(of hyphae): the
hyphae
are arranged perpendicularly to the surface of the
thallus
.
Anular
: ring-like; like the structure which is present in the apical apparatus of some
asci
.
Apical
: located at the top. See also
tholus
.
Apothecia
(singular: apothecium): the fruiting bodies of
discocarpic
Ascomycetes,
ascocarps
where the
hymenium
is fully exposed to the air, usually forming a
disc
, surrounded or not by
a
margin
. Depending on the type of margin, they may be
lecanorine
or non-lecanorine.
Most apothecia have a more or less rounded form, with several exceptions: some (e.g. those
of some
Pertusaria
) are
perithecioid
, the disc being completely surrounded by the thalline
margin, the spores being discharged by a narrow pore, others (e.g. in
Graphis
,
Opegrapha
,
etc.) are elongated and ramified (
lirelliform
), etc.
Arachnoid
(of thallus): a tissue of lax
hyphae
, cottony in appearance.
Areolae
(singular: areola): portions of crustose thalli divided by cracks or fissures. They may be
contiguous or dispersed, rounded, angular, or elongate, flat or convex, etc.
Areolate
(of thallus, or of cortex): disrupted into
areolae.
This term is often used also for the
schizidia
-like structures present on the
podetia
of some Cladonias (e.g. in
Cladonia
pyxidata
).
Asci
(singular: ascus): sac-like structures within which the
spores
are formed. Important
taxonomic characters at supraspecific level are the layers of the ascus wall (see
bitunicate
,
unitunicate
), and the structure of the ascus tip, which facilitates the dispersal of spores (see
tholus
). These features - best observed under the microscope by applying
J
to a thin section,
are rarely used in our keys, being rather difficult to appreciate - but they are often mentioned
in the descriptions.
Ascocarp
: the fruiting body of any Ascomycete, i.e. the structure in which the fungal partner
produces the
spores.
See
apothecia
and
perithecia.
Ascoma
(plural: ascomata): see
ascocarp
.
Ascospores
: see
spores
.
Aspicilioid
(of apothecia):
lecanorine apothecia
semi immersed in the thallus, the thalline
margin
not prominent, but containing algae in section; e.g. those of
Aspicilia calcarea
. See
also
cryptolecanorine
.
Axil
(of podetia):
the point where two
branches
diverge. In some species of
Cladonia
the axils
are occupied by a hole (perforate axils).
