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Letrouitia and Pertusaria Lichens

This page provides information about lichens in the genera Letrouitia and Pertusaria, drawing from various research and collection records.

Genus: Letrouitia

• Letrouitia is a genus of lichens.
• It belongs to the family Letrouitiaceae.
• The genus Letrouitia was named after J.H.Wardlaw, due to his research in chemical variation in the lichen genus Letrouitia.

Species of Letrouitia

• Letrouitia vulpina (Tuck.) Hafellner &amp Bellem.
• Letrouitia parabola (Nyl.) R. Sant. &amp Hafellner
• Letrouitia coralloidea (Mll. Arg.) Hafellner.
• Letrouitia transgressa (Malme) Hafellner &amp Bellem.
• Letrouitia domingensis (Pers.) Hafellner &amp Bellem.

Common Names

• letrouitia lichen (U.S. name)
• Domingan letrouitia lichen (U.S. name for Letrouitia domingensis)

Taxonomy and Nomenclature

• Family: Letrouitiaceae
• Synonyms: Letrouitia Hafellner &amp Bellem., Nova Hedwigia 35: 281 (1982)

Distribution and Habitat

• The genus Letrouitia has been newly recorded in Cambodia.
• Letrouitia vulpina is a crustose lichen found in seasonally dry tropical forests.
• Letrouitia domingensis has been found in Taiwan and Florida (Ocala National Forest).
• Letrouitia sp. has been found in Brazil, growing on tree trunks in light forests.
• Letrouitia genus is well distributed in forest.

Morphological Characteristics

• Letrouitia sp. (Brazil) is a crustose lichen with a greenish thallus.
• Letrouitia species have apothecia (fruiting bodies).

Quirky Facts

• One research team called an umbilicate lichen "&quotthe very odd thing&quot."

Chemical Components

• Secondary metabolites from Letrouitia specimens have been analyzed by HPLC.
• Significant quantities of the anthraquinone parietin have been found in Letrouitia.
• The chemical make-up of an individual lichen can be unique.

Ecological Interactions

• Some Letrouitia and Pertusaria species are corticolous, meaning they grow on bark.
• Some lichens have been observed growing with a number of other lichen species on a mossy rock.

Genus: Pertusaria

• Pertusaria is a large genus of warty crustose lichens.
• It belongs to the Pertusariaceae family.

Species of Pertusaria

• Pertusaria albescens
• Pertusaria amara (Bitter Wart Lichen)
• Pertusaria andersoniae
• Pertusaria flavida
• Pertusaria hymenea
• Pertusaria leioplaca
• Pertusaria multipuncta
• Pertusaria pertusa
• Pertusaria pseudocorallina (Lilj.) Arnold (1887)
• Pertusaria puffina A.W.Archer &amp Elix
• Pertusaria pustulata (Pore Lichen)
• Pertusaria rhodo- leuca
• Pertusaria subplicans Nyl.
• Pertusaria truncata Krempelh.
• Pertusaria wangii
• Pertusaria wulingensis

Distribution and Habitat

• An account is given of the lichen genus Pertusaria in Australia, including Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island and Macquarie Island.
• Pertusaria subplicans is a saxicolous lichen described from the Bering.

Morphological Characteristics

• Pertusaria is a large genus of warty crustose lichens.
• The fruiting bodies of Pertusaria are usually modified apothecia that are immersed.
• Some Pertusaria species have abundant, rounded or coalescing, white soralia.
• Apothecia can be white, cream, or pale-colored.

Chemical Components

• Two &#947-lactone carboxylic acids from the lichen Pertusaria albescens, (&#8722)-allo-pertusaric acid and (&#8722)dihydropertusaric acid, have been identified.
• Picrolichenic acid co-occurs with in the lichen Pertusaria truncata.

Resources and Further Information

• EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Explore what EOL knows about Letrouitia vulpina and Letrouitia parabola.
• Museum collections: Learn more about lichen-related research at the Museum.
• Greater Sonoran Desert Lichen Flora: Nash, T.H., Ryan, B.D., Gries, C., Bungartz, F., (eds.) 2001. Lichen Flora of the Greater.
• Molecular data suggest that the lichen genus Pertusaria is not monophyletic (doi:10.1006/lich.2000.0309, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com on IDEM).
• ResearchGate: Official Full-Text Publication: Additional lichen records from New Zealand 49. Pertusaria puffina A.W.Archer &amp Elix.