Verrucoplaca

Verrucoplaca is a monotypic fungal genus in the family Teloschistaceae.^[2] It contains the single species Verrucoplaca verruculifera, a widely distributed saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen that grows on coastal rocks.

Verrucoplaca
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Ascomycota
Class:	Lecanoromycetes
Order:	Teloschistales
Family:	Teloschistaceae
Genus:	Verrucoplaca S.Y.Kondr., Kärnefelt, Elix, A.Thell & Hur (2014)
Species:	V. verruculifera
Binomial name
Verrucoplaca verruculifera (Vain.) S.Y.Kondr., Kärnefelt, Elix, A.Thell, Jung Kim, M.H.Jeong, N.N.Yu, A.S.Kondr. & Hur (2014)
Synonyms[1]
Placodium verruculiferum Vain. (1905) Caloplaca verruculifera (Vain.) Zahlbr. (1931) Gasparrinia verruculifera (Vain.) Dombr. (1970) Polycauliona verruculifera (Vain.) Arup, Frödén & Søchting (2013)

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.^[3] The type species was originally described in 1905 by Finnish lichenologist Edvard August Vainio as a species of Placodium,^[4] and it was later proposed for inclusion in the genera Caloplaca, Gasparrinia, and Polycauliona.^[1]

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.^[3]