Ohio Biological Survey: Bull. 10, Vol. 11, No. 6 The Ascomycetes of Ohio IV and V
Ohio Biological Survey: Bull. 10, Vol. 11, No. 6 The Ascomycetes of Ohio IV and V
By Bruce Fink
16 Mar, 2019
Excerpt.......It was stated in the second paper of this series that the disposition of the Lecideaceae in an early paper of the series would show what slight changes are needed in treating lichens as we treat other ascomycetes. It is hoped that this
... Read more
Excerpt.......It was stated in the second paper of this series that the disposition of the Lecideaceae in an early paper of the series would show what slight changes are needed in treating lichens as we treat other ascomycetes. It is hoped that this paper has accomplished this in phraseology intelligible to those acquainted with the present-day language of systematic mycology.
The Lecideaceae form a well-defined family of lichens, the affinities of which seem plainly marked. In apothecial structure, and so far as known, in structure of the sexual reproductive areas, the family seems to be closely related to the mainly non-lichen Patellariaceae and to such lichens as the Gyalectaceae, the Lecanactidaceae, the Collemaceae, the Baeomycetaceae, and the Cladoniaceae.
Following the commonly-accepted theory that the lichens have been evolved from non-algicolous fungi, the origin of the Lecideaceae and related lichens from Patellaria-like ancestors is a reasonable supposition, though the relative rank of the various related families named in the last paragraph is not easy to decide. Within the Lecideaceae, the line of evolution seems to have been in the direction of a well-developed exciple and from simpler to more complex spores. With the advance in these two directions has gone a slightly increased development of the thallus.
In structure, the thallus is crustose, and the thalli vary from inconspicuous, evanescent conditions to those which are conspicuous and sometimes even subsquamulous. Rarely the thallus extends upward as a veil which surrounds the apothecia laterally and suggests how the thalloid exciple of higher families probably arose. As usual in crustose forms, the thalli are composed of hyphae which are densely disposed toward the upper, exposed surface and more loosely disposed toward the lower surface (Fig. 2). Less