Buellia spuria (Schaer.) Anzi. (1860:87)

Ngangom, Roshinikumar, Nayaka, Sanjeeva, Mohabe, Satish & Reddy, A. Madhusudhana, 2025, New and interesting saxicolous species of Buellia De Not. (Caliciaceae, lichenized ascomycota) from India, Phytotaxa 681 (3), pp. 265-276 : 272-274

Buellia spuria (Schaer.) Anzi. (1860:87) ( Fig. 5 )

Basionym: Lecidea spuria Schaer., Lich. Helvet. Spicil. Sect. 3: 127 (1828)

Type:— SWITZERLAND. Kanton Zürich. On granitic alpine boulders growing with Lecidea atro-alba [original label data: Ad saxa granitica, Schleicher, 1823 sub Lecidea atro-alba ; Hepp, Flechten Europas Nr. 33, auf Alpenfindlingen bei Zürich], collected by Schleicher s.n., distributed by Hepp, Lich. Helvet. Exs. 33, 0023903 (isoneotype M [photo!]); 000660170 (isoneotype BM [photo!]).

For further synonymy, see Bungartz et al. (2004, 2007).

Thallus saxicolous, crustose, thin to moderately thickened, continuous, epilithic; areolate; prothallus conspicuously black, visible between areoles, rarely only surrounding thallus outline; surface matt, usually white to whitish grey, rarely dark grey, epruinose, phenocorticate; medulla white, I+ blue, lacking calcium oxalate (H 2 SO 4 –).

Apothecia lecideine, sessile, numerous, immersed to adnate, round 0.3–0.5 mm in diam.; disc epruinose, black, rarely becoming slightly convex with age; proper margin thin, persistent, rarely excluded with age, black or color masked by greyish necrotic thalline material; exciple narrow aethalea - type ( Bungartz et al. 2007), aeruginose pigments continuous with epihymenium (K–, HNO ₃+ violet); hymenium, hyaline, not inspersed, 50–60 µm high; paraphyses simple to moderately branched, apically swollen, with brown pigment cap and diffuse, aeruginose pigment (K–, HNO 3 + violet). Asci 8-spored, clavate, Bacidia - type. Ascospores olive to brown at maturity, oblong to ellipsoid, Buellia - type, proper septum and spore wall thin, not thickening during spore ontogeny, ornamentation absent, (9.4–)10.5–13.9(– 15.3) × (4.8–)5.6–6.8(–7.4) µm, l/w= (1.7–)1.8–2.1(–2.4) (n = 30).

Pycnidia not observed.

Chemistry: Spot test: K+ yellow to red (forming crystals), P+ yellow, C–, KC–. Thallus UV –. TLC: atranorin (major), norstictic (major) and connorstictic acid (minor).

Distribution: This is cosmopolitan species found in the Northern Hemisphere ( Bungartz & Nash 2004a), southern and eastern hemisphere ( Joshi et al. 2010, McCarthy 2023) on a variety of siliceous rock. In India it is distributed in tropical to subtropical regions between elevation 500 to 1600 m and found growing along with species of Aspicilia and Lecanora .

Notes: Buellia spuria is closely related to B. stellulata (Taylor in Mackay 1836:118) Mudd (1861:216). which shares similar morphological characters, but latter species consistently has a non-amyloid medulla and lacks norstictic acid ( Bungartz et al. 2007). The description provided here is based on Indian specimens which matches well with protologue and the isoneotype photos of Buellia spuria .

Specimens examined: INDIA. Himachal Pradesh, Beas River valley, Kulu, on way to Barahi road, elev. ca. 1500 m. 16 June 1975. D.D. Awasthi & K. Dange 75032 A ( LWG-LWU). Karnataka, Chikmangalure district Chikmagalure to Kummangundi , on rock, elev. 1100 m. 01 May 1979. D. D. Awasthi, D.K. Upreti & U. Mishra 79.417 ( LWG-LWU). Manipur, Ukhrul , on rock, elev. 1676 m. 05 November 1976. K.P. Singh 55186 ( LWG-LWU). Odisha, Ganjam district , on way to Seranga , on rock. 03 March 1986. D.D. Awasthi, G. Awasthi, R. Mathur & P. Srivastava 86.158 ( LWG-LWU). Tamil Nadu, Salem district , Palamalai Hills , elev. 705 m. N11°44’10.4”, E77°44’29”. 14 February 2012. Logesh, Komal & Preeti 12-028076 ( LWG) ; Nilgiri Hills, Love dale, on rock. 01 December 1973. K.P. Singh 73.515 ( LWG-LWU). Uttarakhand, Almora district , Almora , Karbala , Pine Forest , on exposed rock, elev. 1600 m. 26 May 1997. D.K. Upreti, Chatterjee & Tandon L69762, L69761 /B ( LWG) ; Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve, Sandikhal , on rock, elev. 1000–1100 m. 03 December 1999. D.K. Upreti & Tandon 217429/A ( LWG) .

Figures

FIGURE 5. A–B. Thallus of Buellia spuria. C. Ascospores D. Apothecial anatomy showing exciple and epihymenium HNO + violet. 3 Scale bars. A. 2 mm, B. 1 mm, C. 15 µm, D–E. 50 µm.