Leucodecton

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Genus of lichen-forming fungi

title: "Leucodecton" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["graphidaceae", "lichen-genera", "graphidales-genera", "taxa-described-in-1860", "taxa-named-by-abramo-bartolommeo-massalongo"] description: "Genus of lichen-forming fungi" topic_path: "general/graphidaceae" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucodecton" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Genus of lichen-forming fungi ::

| image = | image_caption = | taxon = Leucodecton | authority = A.Massal. (1860) | type_species = Leucodecton compunctum | type_species_authority = (Ach.) A.Massal. (1860) | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivisions =

Leucodecton is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Graphidaceae. These lichens form thin, cream to pale brown crusts on bark or rock surfaces and reproduce through flask-shaped fruiting bodies that often appear in small, wart-like clusters. The genus currently includes more than 30 species found worldwide, with many recently described from tropical regions such as Sri Lanka and Costa Rica.

Taxonomy

The genus was circumscribed in 1860 by Swiss lichenologist Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo, with Leucodecton compunctum assigned as the type species.

Description

Leucodecton forms a thin, crust-like thallus that lies flat on the bark or rock surface. Its upper layer is usually cream to pale fawn; the outer "skin" () is only weakly developed, giving the surface a smooth to slightly knobbly look. Large, irregular crystals may be embedded in the interior, but the border () that some lichens display is missing. Vegetative propagules used for asexual spread—powdery soredia or tiny finger-like isidia—occasionally occur. The photosynthetic partner is a filamentous green alga from the genus Trentepohlia, which lends an orange tint when exposed in damaged areas.

The reproductive bodies are flask- to urn-shaped apothecia that start out immersed in the thallus and often push up in small wart-like clusters. Their black are usually concave, sometimes dusted with a grey bloom (), and are framed by a rim of thallus tissue () that may split irregularly as the fruiting body matures. Beneath this rim lies a —an internal ring of densely intertwined fungal hyphae—seen in a view from above. Within the apothecium, the colourless hymenium houses slender asci, each with a single functional wall layer that thickens abruptly at the tip. The asci typically hold one to eight ascospores.

Spores are elongated to spindle-shaped, with several internal walls; they begin colourless and thin-walled but often darken and develop thick, laminated walls as they age. No conidiomata (structures that produce asexual spores) have been observed. Chemically, most species produce stictic or norstictic acid, secondary metabolites that are useful for species identification through thin-layer chromatography.

Species

, Species Fungorum (in the Catalogue of Life) accepts 32 species of Leucodecton:

References

References

  1. (2023). "Ostropales: Graphidaceae, including the genera ''Allographa'', ''Clandestinotrema'', ''Crutarndina'', ''Diploschistes'', ''Fissurina'', ''Graphis'', ''Leucodecton'', ''Phaeographis'', ''Schizotrema'', ''Thelotrema'' and ''Topeliopsis''".
  2. "''Leucodecton''".
  3. (2014). "New Graphidaceae from northern Argentina". Phytotaxa.
  4. Frisch, A.. (2006). "Contributions towards a new systematics of the lichen family Thelotremataceae". J. Cramer.
  5. (2014). "Studies in lichens and lichenicolous fungi – No. 19: Further notes on species from the Coastal Plain of southeastern North America". Opuscula Philolichenum.
  6. Lücking, R.. (2015). "Thelotremoid Graphidaceae from the NYBG herbarium: New species, range extensions, and a forgotten lichen". Opuscula Philolichenum.
  7. Massalongo, A.B.. (1860). "Esame comparativo di alcune genere di licheni". Atti dell'Istituto Veneto Scienze.
  8. (2014). "Twenty-three new species in the lichen family Graphidaceae from New Caledonia (Ostropales, Ascomycota)". Phytotaxa.
  9. (2012). "A first assessment of the Ticolichen biodiversity inventory in Costa Rica and adjacent areas: the thelotremoid Graphidaceae (Ascomycota: Ostropales)". Phytotaxa.
  10. Sipman, H.J.M.. (2018). "New species and new records of Australian lichens". Australasian Lichenology.
  11. (2014). "Thirteen new species of Graphidaceae (lichenized Ascomycota: Ostropales) from Sri Lanka". Phytotaxa.

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