Physciaceae

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Family of lichen-forming fungi

title: "Physciaceae" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["caliciales", "lichen-families", "lecanoromycetes-families", "taxa-named-by-alexander-zahlbruckner", "taxa-described-in-1898"] description: "Family of lichen-forming fungi" topic_path: "general/caliciales" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physciaceae" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Family of lichen-forming fungi ::

| image = Physcia aipolia 1729228.jpg | image_caption = Physcia aipolia | taxon = Physciaceae | authority = Zahlbr. (1898) | type_genus = Physcia | type_genus_authority = (Schreb.) Michx. (1803) | subdivision_ranks = Genera | subdivision =

The Physciaceae are a family of mostly lichen-forming fungi belonging to the class Lecanoromycetes in the division Ascomycota. A 2016 estimate placed 19 genera and 601 species in the family.

Taxonomy

Physciaceae was formalised by Alexander Zahlbruckner in Adolf Engler's Syllabus (1898), with Physcia as the type genus. In a set of conservation proposals intended to stabilise long-used family names, Hawksworth and Eriksson (1988) recommended conserving Physciaceae against the earlier name Pyxinaceae (basionym: "trib." Pyxineae E.M.Fries, 1825), arguing that Pyxinaceae had not been taken up in standard works and that Physciaceae was firmly established in the literature. They characterised Physciaceae as one of the major families of the Lecanorales, then comprising about 20 genera and roughly 850 species, many of them familiar macrolichens.

Hawksworth and Eriksson also noted historical alternatives that do not displace Physciaceae: Körber's "Anaptychiaceae" (attributed to Massalongo) proved to be a tribal-rank usage without a , so it was not validly published; had it been valid and pre-1898, it would likewise have required conservation of Physciaceae over that name.

Description

The Physiaceae includes various growth forms such as foliose, fruticose, , stipitate, crustose, and even evanescent types (where certain parts, such as basal squamules, become less noticeable or disappear over time as other structures develop). Some members of this family may also be lichenicolous, meaning they grow on other lichens. These lichens can exhibit features such as , isidia, and soredia, or may lack them entirely.

The upper of Physiaceae lichens can be , , or absent. Their photobiont, or the symbiotic algae living within the lichen, is typically a unicellular green alga from the genus Trebouxia, with a diameter ranging from 5 to 20 μm. The medulla can vary from poorly to well-developed or may even be absent, and it often contains lichen substances. The lower cortex can be prosoplectenchymatous, paraplectenchymatous, or absent, with the lower surface either possessing or lacking rhizines. A prothallus may be present or absent.

Physiaceae lichens produce ascomata, which can be either apothecia or . Their apothecia can be immersed, sessile, or short-stalked, with a more or less distinct exciple. The , when present, is generally round and ranges from flat to convex, displaying colours from brown to dark reddish-brown or black. A may or may not be present, while the can be thin and weakly pigmented or well-developed and darkly pigmented.

The can be brown-black, brown, or green, while the hymenium is colourless or partly green, with or without oil droplets. The can vary in colour from colourless to yellow-brown, brown, or dark brown. are simple or sparingly branched in the uppermost part, with thickened apices often capped by a brown-pigmented layer. The asci are , typically with 8 spores (but sometimes as few as 2 or as many as 16) and a well-developed amyloid , a paler conical axial mass, and an ocular chamber.

Ascospores in the Physiaceae have a single septum, olive to brown in colour, and ellipsoidal in shape, often displaying uneven wall thickenings. The conidiomata are , either immersed or superficial. can be formed acrogenously or pleurogenously, and they can be ellipsoidal, , , or .

Genera

This is a list of the genera contained within the Physciaceae, based on a 2020 review and summary of ascomycete classification; as well as several genera that have been circumscribed or resurrected since then. Following the genus name is the taxonomic authority, year of publication, and the number of species: ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Liquen_-lichen-Anaptychia_ciliaris(8650792202).jpg" caption="''[[Anaptychia ciliaris]]''"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Rinodina_roscida_-Flickr-_pellaea.jpg" caption="''[[Rinodina roscida]]''"] ::

The genus Culbersonia, previously classified in the Physciaceae due to its morphological features, has been shown with molecular phylogenetics to belong to the Caliciaceae.

References

References

  1. (2019). "The phylogenetic position of ''Culbersonia'' is in the Caliciaceae (lichenized ascomycetes)". The Lichenologist.
  2. (2004). "''Coscinocladium'', an overlooked endemic and monotypic Mediterranean lichen genus of Physciaceae, reinstated by molecular phylogenetic analysis". Taxon.
  3. Elix, John. (2009). "Flora of Australia". CSIRO Publishing.
  4. Esslinger, Theodore L.. (1978). "Studies in the lichen family Physciaceae IV. ''Awasthia'', a new genus from the Himalayas". The Bryologist.
  5. Esslinger, T.L.. (1986). "Studies in the lichen family Physciaceae. VII. The new genus ''Physciella''". Mycologia.
  6. (1988). "Proposals to conserve or reject". Taxon.
  7. (2014). "''Kashiwadia'' gen. nov. (Physciaceae, lichen-forming Ascomycota), proved by phylogenetic analysis of the Eastern Asian Physciaceae". Acta Botanica Hungarica.
  8. (2021). "Contributions to molecular phylogeny of lichen-forming fungi 2. Review of current monophyletic branches of the family Physciaceae". Acta Botanica Hungarica.
  9. Körber, Gustav Wihlem. (1848). "Grundriss der Kryptogamen-Kunde". Ed. Trewendt.
  10. (2017). "The 2016 classification of lichenized fungi in the Ascomycota and Basidiomycota–Approaching one thousand genera". The Bryologist.
  11. (1978). "''Rinodinella'' – eine neue Gattung der Flechtenfamilie Physciaceae". Hoppea Denkschrift der Regensburgischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft.
  12. (1992). "''Mobergia'' (Physciaceae, lichenized ascomycetes), a new genus endemic to western North America". The Bryologist.
  13. (1977). "The lichen genus ''Physcia'' and allied genera in Fennoscandia". Symbolae Botanicae Upsalienses.
  14. (2015). "The lichen family Physciaceae in Thailand—II. Contributions to the genus ''Heterodermia'' sensu lato". Phytotaxa.
  15. (1980). "''Tornabea'', nom. nov. for ''Tornabenia Trevisan'' (Lichenes), non ''Tornabenea Parlatore'' (Umbelliferae)". Taxon.
  16. Poelt, J.. (1965). "Zur Systematik der Flechtenfamilie Physciaceae". Nova Hedwigia.
  17. von Schreber, J.C.D.. (1791). "Genera Plantarum".
  18. (2020). "Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa". Mycosphere.

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