Cryptothecia

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Fungi
Subregnum: Dikarya
Divisio: Ascomycota
Subdivisio: Pezizomycotina
Classis: Arthoniomycetes
Ordo: Arthoniales

Familia: Arthoniaceae
Genus: Cryptothecia
Species: C. albata – C. alboglauca – C. albomaculata – C. aleurella – C. aleurina – C. aleurocarpa – C. aleurodes – C. anamalaiensis – C. assimilis – C. atropunctata – C. austrocoreana – C. awasthii – C. bartlettii – C. bengalensis – C. caesioalba – C. candida – C. cretacea – C. culbersoniae – C. dispersa – C. dissimilis – C. effusa – C. emergens – C. epiphylla – C. eungellaeae – C. evergladensis – C. exilis – C. farinosa – C. farinulosa – C. faveolata – C. faveomaculata – C. fructigera – C. fungoides – C. fuscopunctata – C. genuflexa – C. glauca – C. granularis – C. griseoalba – C. groenhartii – C. inexspectata – C. involuta – C. irregularis – C. javanica – C. lactea – C. laevigata – C. lunulata – C. macrocarpa – C. macrocephala – C. macrospora – C. maculata – C. malmei – C. megalocarpa – C. miniata – C. monospora – C. multipunctata – C. nigeriensis – C. nilghiriensis – C. nivea – C. obtecta – C. obvallata – C. pertenuis – C. philippina – C. phlyctidiformis – C. polymorpha – C. porifera – C. porosa – C. punctosorediata – C. punctulata – C. rhizophora – C. rubrocinctoides – C. scriblitella – C. scripta – C. stirtonii – C. striata – C. subnidulans – C. subtecta – C. tenuis – C. thoroldii – C. verruciminuta – C. verruculifera – C. virginea
Name

Cryptothecia Stirt., 1876

Type species: C. subnidulans
Stirt., 1877
Synonyms

Herpothallon Tobler, 1937
Herpothallonomyces Cif. & Tomas., 1954
Myriostigma Kremp., 1874
Myxotheca Ferd. & Winge, 1910

References
Primary references

Stirt., Proc. Roy. phil. Soc. Glasgow 10: 164 (1876) [1877]

Stirton, J. 1877: Description of Recently Discovered Foreign Lichens. - Proc. Philos. Soc. Glasgow 10: **[Mattick Rec. # 34670] - (Recent Literature on Lichens - Mattick No.)**

Additional references

Elix, J.A. [From Flora of Australia volume 57 (2009)] - Discussion of the genus, Cryptothecia.

Links

Index Fungorum

MycoBank

Vernacular names

Cryptothecia is a genus of white to greenish crustose lichens that grow on bark, wood, or leaves, in tropical or subtropical areas worldwide.[2] It has a conspicuous prothallus that develops around its periphery which can be bright red in some species, hence the common name wreath lichen.[3] The main vegetative body (thallus) lacks a cortex (ecorticate and is often immersed in the substrate or byssoid (whispy, like teased wool).[2] The medulla is white, well defined, and often peppered with calcium oxalate crystals.[2] Ascomata are not well defined, being cushions of soft white mycelium immersed in the medullary tissue, hence the name from the Greek krypto = "to conceal" and theke = "a container or sheath".[2] It contains Trentepohlia, a green alga, as its photobiont partner.

Two species have been described in North America.[3] At least one species, Cryptothecia rubrocincta, has been used in Brazil as a source of dye.[4]
Taxonomy

The genus was circumscribed by James Stirton in 1877, with Cryptothecia subnidulans assigned as the type species.[5]
Description

Species in the genus Cryptothecia have a crustose thallus, which can be either immersed in the substrate or its surface. The colour of the thallus ranges from white to greenish, often with a byssoid (cottony) texture. Some species have spherical isidia-like granules, although soredia are absent. The prothallus typically consists of interwoven or radiating hyphae, and the photobiont layer may be either distinct or indistinct. The medulla is usually well-defined, white, and frequently amyloid, often containing numerous colourless calcium oxalate crystals.[2]

Cryptothecia does not have well-defined ascomata (fruiting bodies). Its ascigerous areas, which can be common or rare, are restricted to cushions of soft white mycelium within the loose medullary tissue. These areas tend to spread over the whole thallus, forming small clusters near the surface or cushion-like structures. Asci are spherical to ovoid, bitunicate, and thick-walled, typically measuring 60–160 by 30–130 μm. They are enclosed in a cocoon-like layer and contain 1–8 spores. The ascospores are muriform, ellipsoidal, and often somewhat curved, ranging from 40–110 by 15–65 μm in size.[2]

Conidiomata in Cryptothecia are pycnidial and range from immersed in the substrate to emergent, with a dark brown wall. Conidiogenous cells are simple, and bacilliform (rod-shaped) to narrowly clavate (club-shaped_. The conidia are colourless, simple, bacilliform, and range from 3–8 by about 1 μm, or they can be thread-like, filiform (threadlike), and multiseptate, measuring 110–140 by about 1.5 μm.[2]
Species

As of December 2023, Species Fungorum (in the Catalogue of Life) accepts 41 species of Cryptothecia.[6]
Cryptothecia punctosorediata

Cryptothecia alboglauca Jagad. Ram, G.P.Sinha & Kr.P.Singh (2009)[7] – India
Cryptothecia albomaculans Jagadeesh & G.P.Sinha (2016)[8]
Cryptothecia albomaculatella Aptroot & Wolseley (2009)[9] – Thailand
Cryptothecia aleurinoides Aptroot & Wolseley (2009)[9] – Thailand
Cryptothecia atropunctata G.Thor (1997)[10]
Cryptothecia austrocoreana J.J.Woo, Lőkös, Farkas & Hur (2017)[11]
Cryptothecia bengalensis Jagad.Ram, G.P.Sinha & Kr.P.Singh (2009)[7] – India
Cryptothecia calusarum Seavey & J.Seavey (2017)[12] – USA
Cryptothecia chamelensis Herrera-Camp., Bautista & Lücking (2019)[13] – Mexico
Cryptothecia darwiniana Bungartz & Elix (2013)[14] – Galápagos Islands
Cryptothecia demethylconfluentica Aptroot (2022)[15] – Brazil
Cryptothecia duplofluorescens Aptroot & M.F.Souza (2021)[16] – Brazil
Cryptothecia elata Jagadeesh & G.P.Sinha (2016)[8]
Cryptothecia elongata Jagadeesh & G.P.Sinha (2016)[8]
Cryptothecia eungellae G.Thor (1997)[10]
Cryptothecia evergladensis Seavey (2009)[17]
Cryptothecia exilis G.Thor (1997)[10]
Cryptothecia fabispora M.Cáceres, E.L.Lima & Aptroot (2013)[18] – Brazil
Cryptothecia farinosa Jagad.Ram, G.P.Sinha & Kr.P.Singh (2009)[7] – India
Cryptothecia fuscopunctata Seavey & J.Seavey (2014)[19]
Cryptothecia galapagoana Bungartz & Elix (2013)[14] – Galápagos Islands
Cryptothecia inexspectata G.Thor (1997)[10]
Cryptothecia isidioxantha Aptroot & M.Cáceres (2017)[20]
Cryptothecia lecanorosorediata Aptroot & M.Cáceres (2024)[21] – Brazil

Cryptothecia lichexanthonica E.L.Lima, Aptroot & M.Cáceres (2013)[18] – Brazil
Cryptothecia macrocephala M.Cáceres & Aptroot (2013)[22] – Brazil
Cryptothecia methylmicrophyllinica Aptroot & Spier (2010)[23]
Cryptothecia methylperlatolica Aptroot (2022)[15] – Brazil
Cryptothecia multipunctata Jagad.Ram, G.P.Sinha & Kr.P.Singh (2009)[7] – India
Cryptothecia odishensis R.Bajpai, S.Joseph & Upreti (2018)[24] – India
Cryptothecia parvopsoromica Aptroot (2022)[15] – Brazil
Cryptothecia punctosorediata Sparrius (2005)[25]
Cryptothecia randallii Seavey & J.Seavey (2017)[12] – USA
Cryptothecia rhizophora Aptroot & M.Cáceres (2016)[26] – Brazil
Cryptothecia rosae-iselae Flakus & Kukwa (2015)[27] – Bolivia
Cryptothecia scripta G.Thor (1997)[10]
Cryptothecia stockerae G.Neuwirth & Aptroot (2016)[28] – Seychelles
Cryptothecia submacrocephala Seavey & J.Seavey (2017)[12] – USA
Cryptothecia submyriadella van den Boom (2018)
Cryptothecia subnidulans Stirt. (1876)[5]
Cryptothecia superphyllinica Jagadeesh & G.P.Sinha (2016)[8]
Cryptothecia verruculifera Jagad.Ram, G.P.Sinha & Kr.P.Singh (2009)[7] – India

References

"Synonymy: Cryptothecia Stirt., Proc. Roy. phil. Soc. Glasgow 10: 164 (1876) [1877]". Species Fungorum. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
Elix, John A. (2009). McCarthy, P.M.; Kuchlmayr, Brigitte (eds.). Cryptothecia (PDF). Flora of Australia. Vol. 57. Australian Biological Resources Study/CSIRO Publishing. ISBN 978-0-643-09664-6.
Brodo, I. M., S. D. Sharnoff, and S. Sharnoff. 2001. Lichens of North America. Yale University Press: New Haven.
Mors, WB. 1966. Useful Plants of Brazil. Holden-Day, Inc., San Francisco. Page 57.
Stirton, J. (1877). "Descriptions of recently discovered lichens". Proceedings of the Philosophical Society of Glasgow. 10: 156–164.
"Cryptothecia". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
Ram, T.A.M. Jagadeesh; Sinha, G.P.; Singh, K.P. (2009). "New species and new records of Cryptothecia and Herpothallon (Arthoniales) from India". The Lichenologist. 41 (6): 605–613. doi:10.1017/s0024282909008123.
Ram, T.A.M. Jagadeesh; Sinha, G.P. (2016). "A world key to Cryptothecia and Myriostigma (Arthoniaceae), with new species and new records from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India". Phytotaxa. 266 (2): 103–114. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.266.2.4.
Wolseley, P.A.; Aptroot, A. (2009). "The lichen genera Cryptothecia and Stirtonia in northern Thailand". Bibliotheca Lichenologica. 99: 411–422.
Thor, G. (1997). "The genus Cryptothecia in Australia and New Zealand and the circumscription of the genus". Symbolae Botanicae Upsalienses. 32 (1): 267–289.
Woo, Jung-Jae; Lőkös, László; Farkas, Edit; Park, Chan-Ho; Hur, Jae-Seoun (2017). "Cryptothecia austrocoreana (Arthoniales, Arthoniaceae), a new species from South Korea". Mycobiology. 45 (4): 338–343. doi:10.5941/myco.2017.45.4.338. PMC 5780365. PMID 29371801.
Seavey, F.; Seavey, J.; Gagnon, J.; Guccion, J.; Kaminsky, B.; Pearson, J.; Podaril, A.; Randall, B. (2017). "The lichens of Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park, Key Largo, Florida, USA". Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History. 53 (5): 201–268.
Herrera-Campos, María de los Ángeles; Barcenas-Peña, Alejandrina; Miranda-González, Ricardo; Mejía, Maricarmen Altamirano; González, Joshua A. Bautista; Colín, Paola Martínez; Téllez, Norberto Sánchez; Lücking, Robert (2019). "New lichenized Arthoniales and Ostropales from Mexican seasonally dry tropical forest". The Bryologist. 122 (1): 62–83. doi:10.1639/0007-2745-122.1.062.
Bungartz, Frank; Dután-Patiño, Valeria Leonor; Elix, John A. (2013). "The lichen genera Cryptothecia, Herpothallon and Helminthocarpon (Arthoniales) in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador". The Lichenologist. 45 (6): 739–762. doi:10.1017/s0024282913000522.
Aptroot, André; de Souza, Maria Fernanda; dos Santos, Lidiane Alves; Junior, Isaias Oliveira; Barbosa, Bruno Micael Cardoso; da Silva, Marcela Eugenia Cáceres (2022). "New species of lichenized fungi from Brazil, with a record report of 492 species in a small area of the Amazon Forest". The Bryologist. 125 (3): 435–467. doi:10.1639/0007-2745-125.3.433.
Aptroot, André; Souza, Maria Fernanda (2021). "New crustose lichens from a tropical coastal area in Paraná (Brazil)". Cryptogamie, Mycologie. 42 (12): 191–197. doi:10.5252/cryptogamie-mycologie2021v42a12.
Seavey, F. (2009). "Cryptothecia evergladensis sp. nov. (Arthoniaceae), a new lichen species from Everglades National Park, Florida". Opuscula Philolichenum. 7: 49–54.
Lima, Edvaneide Leandro de; Mendonça, Cléverton de Oliveira; Aptroot, André; Cáceres, Marcela Eugenia da Silva (2013). "Two new species of Cryptothecia from NE Brazil". The Lichenologist. 45 (3): 361–365. doi:10.1017/s0024282912000862.
Seavey, Frederick; Seavey, Jean (2014). "Four new species and sixteen new lichen records for North America from Everglades National Park". The Bryologist. 117 (4): 395–404. doi:10.1639/0007-2745-117.4.395.
Aptroot, André; Feuerstein, Shirley Cunha; Cunha-Dias, Iane Paula Rego; de Lucena Nunes, Álvaro Rogerio; Honorato, Maykon Evangelista; da Silva Cáceres, Marcela Eugenia (2017). "New lichen species and lichen reports from Amazon forest remnants and Cerrado vegetation in the Tocantina Region, northern Brazil". The Bryologist. 120 (3): 320–328. doi:10.1639/0007-2745-120.3.320.
Aptroot, André; Cáceres, Marcela Eugenia da Silva; Santos, Lidiane Alves dos (2024). "The taxonomy of sterile Arthoniaceae from Brazil: white crusts on overhanging tropical trees can be named". The Lichenologist. 56 (1): 1–13. doi:10.1017/S0024282924000021.
Menezes, Aline Anjos; de Lima, Edvaneide Leandro; Xavier-Leite, Amanda Barreto; Maia, Leonor Costa; Aptroot, André; Cáceres, Marcela Eugenia da Silva (2013). "New species of Arthoniales from NE Brazil". The Lichenologist. 45 (5): 611–617. doi:10.1017/s0024282913000236.
Aptroot, A.; Spier, J.L. (2010). "The lichen genus Cryptothecia (Arthoniaceae) in Java" (PDF). Australasian Lichenology. 66: 50–57.
Das, Kanad; Rossi, Walter; Leonardi, Marco; Ghosh, Aniket; Bera, Ishika; Hembrom, Manoj E.; Bajpai, Rajesh; Joseph, Siljo; Nayaka, Sanjeeva; Upreti, Dalip Kumar; Wang, Xiang-hua; Hofstetter, Valérie; Buyck, Bart (2018). "Fungal Biodiversity Profiles 61 – 70". Cryptogamie, Mycologie. 39 (4): 381–418. doi:10.7872/crym/v39.iss4.2018.381.
Sparrius, Laurens B.; Saipunkaew, Wanaruk (2005). "Cryptothecia punctosorediata, a new species from Northern Thailand". The Lichenologist. 37 (6): 507–509. doi:10.1017/s0024282905015495.
da Silva Cáceres, Marcela Eugenia; Aptroot, André (2016). "First inventory of lichens from the Brazilian Amazon in Amapá State". The Bryologist. 119 (3): 250–265. doi:10.1639/0007-2745-119.3.250.
Ertz, Damien; Flakus, Adam; Oset, Magdalena; Sipman, Harrie J.M.; Kukwa, Martin (2015). "A first assessment of lichenized Arthoniales in Bolivia with descriptions of two new species". Phytotaxa. 217 (1): 1–25. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.217.1.1.

Neuwirth, G.; Aptroot, A. (2016). "Cryptothecia stockeri (Arthoniales, Arthoniaceae), a new corticolous lichen species from the Seychelles". Herzogia. 29 (1): 97–102. doi:10.13158/heia.29.1.2016.97.