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Leptogium phyllocarpum
(Pers.) Mont.
Common name:
Frilly jellyskin
- Thallus foliose, 2-7 cm in diam., adnate,
irregularly lobate, the lobes very irregular, elongate, strongly thickened
(swelling markedly when wet), often anatomosing, 1-2 mm wide, 150-600 µm
thick; apices rotund, thickened, entire or lobulate. Upper surface medium grey
to dark grey to almost black, usually dull, heavily lamellate longitudinally (not
really wrinkled). Upper and lower cortex consisting of a single layer of
irregularly isodiametrical cells, internally with loosely interwoven chains of
Nostoc
and hyphae. Lower surface pale to medium grey, wrinkled, with
scattered tufts of white hairs. Apothecia common, submarginal towards lobe
tips, sessile, 1-5 mm wide, the disc brown to red-brown, concave to plane, the
margin concolorous with thallus, entire or lobulate, heavily wrinkled. Spores colourless, submuriform, 3-5-septate
transversely, 1-septate longitudinally. Photobiont: cyanobacterial (
Nostoc
). Spot-tests: all negative. - Common on bark
at high elevation in humid interior forests above 1200 m (Horton Plains, Knuckles mountain region and Pidurutalagala).
Letrouitia
spp.
Thallus crustose, superficial, spreading, smooth to verrucose, pale yellow, olive-
grey, greenish yellow to orange-yellow, corticate, K+ purple or blue-violet
(anthraquinones); isidia and/or soredia present or absent. Apothecia, biatorine,
sessile, commonly basally constricted, more or less round, plane to slightly
concave or convex; disc yellow-orange, dark orange, red-brown to red or finally
black; proper margin usually prominent, entire, often paler than the disc, K+
purple or blue-violet. Epihymenium yellow-orange to orange-brown, with
orange-red to brownish crystals, K+ purple or blue-violet; hymenium colourless,
clear or inspersed with oil droplets. Asci broadly clavate, of the
Letrouitia
-type,
with a thick, intensely amyloid layer on the outer side of the apical cap which
includes the outer ascus wall layer and masks the internal apical apparatus.
Spores 1–8 per ascus, colourless, narrowly ellipsoidal to ellipsoidal, transversely septate to muriform. Photobiont:
chlorococcoid. - Several species of this genus have been reported from Sri Lanka, e.g.
L. parabola
,
L. sayeri
, and
L.
transgressa
.
Lobaria discolor
(Bory) Hue
Thallus foliose, coriaceous, loosely adnate centrally, free at the margins, 8-20
cm wide. Lobes sublinear to linear-elongate, subdichotomously to
dichotomously branched, 1-1.5(-2) cm wide; apices ascending, subrotund;
margins entire, crenulate. Upper surface greyish green to olive-brown when dry,
glossy, smooth, lacking isidia, soredia and phyllidia. Lower surface pale tan,
almost glabrous, sparsely tomentose and rhizinate only in the older central
areas; rhizines simple or squarrosely branched, brown to dark brown. Apothecia
lecanorine, subpedicellate, 4–5 mm wide, the disc concave, red-brown, the
margin smooth, thick, entire. Ascospores colourless, fusiform, 1-3-septate at
maturity. Photobiont: chlorococcoid. Spot-tests: cortex K+ yellow; medulla K–,
C+ pink, KC+ pink, P–. - Mostly restricted to humid high elevation forest areas, on live and dead bark. Common in
Horton Plains.
Lobothallia alphoplaca
(Wahlenb.) Hafellner
Thalllus crustose, placodioid, loosely adnate (sometimes removable intact),
usually rosette-forming, areolate, with radiating lobes. Lobes 3-5(-7) mm long,
0.5-1(-1.5) mm across, usually distinctly elongated, radiating and separate,
plane to more often strongly convex or almost cylindrical. Upper surface white
to cream-coloured, ashy grey or greyish brown. Apothecia lecanorine, usually
crowded in thallus center, 0.4-1.5(-2.5) mm in diam.; disc dark reddish brown to
dark greyish brown or black, often blue-white pruinose; margin entire. Spores
colourless, shortly ellipsoid, 1-celled. Photobiont: chlorococcoid. Spot-tests:
thallus and apothecia C-, KC-; cortex K+ red, P+ orange, or K-, P-; medulla K+
red, P+ orange. - A saxicolous species of upland areas, recently reported also
from Sri Lanka.
