Microcalicium

Microcalicium is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the order Pertusariales.^[2] It is the only genus in the monotypic family Microcaliciaceae. These taxa were circumscribed by the Finnish lichenologist Edvard August Vainio in 1927, with Microcalicium disseminatum assigned as the type species.^[3]

Microcalicium
Microcalicium disseminatum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Ascomycota
Class:	Lecanoromycetes
Order:	Pertusariales
Family:	Microcaliciaceae Tibell (1984)[1]
Genus:	Microcalicium Vain. (1927)
Type species
Microcalicium disseminatum (Ach.) Vain. (1927)

Description

Species of Microcalicium have a mazaediate ascomata (an irregularly spherical fruiting body in which ascus walls break down to leave a dry, loose, amorphous, powdery, often dark, mass of spores together with disintegrating asci and paraphyses). Their asci are ellipsoid in shape and non-amyloid.^[4]

Species

As of May 2024^[update], Species Fungorum accepts the following five species in the genus Microcalicium:^[5]

• Microcalicium ahlneri Tibell (1978)^[6]
• Microcalicium arenarium (Hampe ex A.Massal.) Tibell (1978)^[7]
• Microcalicium conversum Tibell (1978)^[6]
• Microcalicium disseminatum (Ach.) Vain. (1927)^[3]
• Microcalicium loraasii Holien & Frisch (2022)^[7]