Fungalpedia – Note 2608, Buelliella

 

Buelliella Fink.

Citation when using this data: Meng QF et al. – Fungalpedia.

Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi , MycoBank, GenBank, Fig 1.

Classification: Stictographaceae, Asterinales, Dothideomycetes orders incertae sedis, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi.

Buelliella was established by Fink (1935) to accommodate the type species B. minimula (Tuck.) Fink growing on Pergusaria, along with six other species that were transferred from other genera. Buelliella is characterized by adnate to sessile apothecia with a flat to convex blackish disk, a brown to black hypothecium, clavate or cylindrico-clavate asci with 8 spores, and brown, oblong-ovoid to ellipsoid or oblong 1-septate spores (Fink 1935).

Initially, Buelliella was placed in Buelliaceae (Lecanorales). However, Lumbsch & Huhndorf (2007) reclassified it within Dothideomycetes genera incertae sedis. This placement persisted until Ertz & Diederich (2015) conducted the first phylogenetic study that included Buelliella, suggesting its placement within Asterinales genera incertae sedis based to phylogenetic result. Further phylogenetic analysis by Ertz et al. (2016) revealed that three Buelliella species intermixed with species of other genera in Asterinales, failing to form a single clade. Consequently, Wijayawardene et al. (2018) supported the viewpoint of Ertz et al. (2015), placing the genus within Asterinales genera incertae sedis. 

Dai et al. (2018) re-analyzed sequence data for taxa of Parmulariaceae E. Müll. & Arx ex M.E. Barr and related genera, including Buelliella. Although Buelliella physciicola Poelt & Hafellner formed a strongly supported clade with the genera Karschia Körb., Labrocarpon Etayo & Pérez-Ort., Melaspileopsis (Müll. Arg.) Ertz & Diederich, and some species of family Stictographaceae D.Q. Dai & K.D. Hyde, Buelliella was not included in Stictographaceae due to limited sequence data (Dai et al. 2018). Subsequently, Wijayawardene et al. (2020, 2022) placed Buelliella within Stictographaceae (Asterinales).

To date, there are 13 lichenicolous taxa in Buelliella. Following the initial species combined by Fink (1935), Hafellner (1979) introduced the second new species, Buelliella physciicola, which grows on Phaeophyscia & Physcia, and a combination, B. trypethelii, which grows on Trypethelium. Hafellner (1985) introduced the third new species, Buelliella pusilla, which grows on Brigantiaea leucoxantha. Aptroot et al. (1997) introduced the fourth new lichenicolous species, Buelliella dirinariae, which grows on Dirinaria picta. Kalb (1990) introduced the fifth new species, Buelliella eximia, which grows on Pyxine cocoes. 

Etayo (2002b) and Hafellner et al. (2002) introduced two new taxa. One new species, Buelliella colombiana, grows on Phlyctis andensis, and the other, a combination Buelliella inops, was transferred from Karschia inops Triebel & Rambold. In the last twenty years, five new species were introduced by various scholars. Suija & Alstrup (2004) introduced B. lecanorae, which grows on Lecanora. Van Den Boom (2010) and Pérez-Ortega et al. (2010a) separately introduced two new species, Buelliella heppiae van den Boom growing on Heppia arenacea and Buelliella protoparmeliopsidis Etayo & Pérez-Ort. Growing on Protoparmeliopsis. Singh & Singh (2019) introduced Buelliella indica Pushpi Singh & Kr.P. Singh, which grows on Graphis longiramea. The most recently described species, B. ohmurae (Zhurbenko et al. 2020), was found from specimens of Icmadophila ericetorum.

Type species : Buelliella minimula (Tuck.) Fink, on Pertusaria.

= Buellia minimula Tuck.

Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Buelliella

Figure 1 – Buelliella minimula redrawn from Hafellner (1979). a Longitudinal section of apothecium. b Paraphysis. c Ascus. d Ascospores. Scale bars: a = 50 μm, b–d = 10 μm.

 

References

Aptroot A, Diederich P, Sérusiaux E, Sipman HJM. 1997 – Lichens and lichenicolous fungi from New Guinea. Bibliotheca Lichenologica 64, 1–220.

Dai D-Q, Tang L-Z, Liu C, Wang H-B et al. 2018 – Studies on Parmulariaceae I. A phylogeny based on available sequence data; introducing Parmulariales ord. nov., and Hemigraphaceae, Melaspileellaceae and Stictographaceae fam. nov. Phytotaxa 369 (2), 63–79.

Ertz D, Diederich P. 2015a – Dismantling Melaspileaceae: a first phylogenetic study of Buelliella, Hemigrapha, Karschia, Labrocarpon and Melaspilea. Fungal Diversity 71 (1), 141–164.

Ertz D, Diederich P, Lawrey JD, Berger F et al. 2015b – Phylogenetic insights resolve Dacampiaceae (Pleosporales) as polyphyletic: Didymocyrtis (Pleosporales, Phaeosphaeriaceae) with Phoma-like anamorphs resurrected and segregated from Polycoccum (Trypetheliales, Polycoccaceae fam. nov.). Fungal Diversity 74 (1), 53–89.

Ertz D, Heuchert B, Braun U, Freebury CE et al. 2016 – Contribution to the phylogeny and taxonomy of the genus Taeniolella, with a focus on lichenicolous taxa. Fungal Biology 120 (11), 1416–1447.

Etayo J. 2002b – Aportación al conocimiento de los hongos liquenícolas de Colombia. Bibliotheca Lichenologica 84, 1–154.

Fink B 1935 – The lichen flora of the United States. 1–426.

Hafellner J. 1979 – Karschia. Revision einer Sammelgattung an der Grenze von lichenisierten und nichtlichenisierten Ascomyceten. Beih. Nova Hedwigia 62, 1–248.

Hafellner J. 1985a – Studies of lichenicolous fungi and lichens III: The genus Roselliniella Vainio emend. Haf.(Ascomycotina, Dothideales). Herzogia 7 (1–2), 145–162.

Hafellner J. 2002a – Additions and corrections to the checklist and bibliography of lichens and lichenicolous fungi of insular Laurimacaronesia. III. Fritschiana (Graz) 50, 1–13.

Lumbsch HT, Huhndorf SM. 2007 – Outline of Ascomycota—2007. Myconet 13, 1–58.

Pérez-Ortega S, Etayo J. 2010a – Labrocarpon gen. nov. for Melaspilea canariensis, with the description of Buelliella protoparmeliopsis sp. nov. from South America. The Lichenologist 42 (3), 271–276.

Singh P, Singh K. 2019 – Buelliella indica (Dothideomycetes), a new lichenicolous species from India. Acta Botanica Hungarica 61 (3–4), 435–439.

Suija A, Alstrup V. 2004 – Buelliella lecanorae, a new lichenicolous fungus. The Lichenologist 36 (3–4), 203–206.

Van Den Boom PP. 2010 – New or interesting lichens and lichenicolous fungi of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain). Willdenowia 40 (2), 359–368.

Wijayawardene NN, Hyde KD, Lumbsch HT, Liu JK et al. 2018 – Outline of Ascomycota: 2017. Fungal Diversity 88 (1), 167–263.

Wijayawardene NN, Hyde K, Al-Ani L, Tedersoo L et al. 2020 – Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa. Mycosphere 11 (1), 1060–1456.

Wijayawardene NN, Hyde KD, Dai D-Q, Sanchez-Garcia M et al. 2022 – Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa – 2021. Mycosphere 13 (1), 53–453.

Zhurbenko MP, Diederich P, Gagarina LV. 2020a – Lichenicolous fungi from Vietnam, with the description of four new species. Herzogia 33 (2), 525–543.

 

Entry by

Meng QF, Center of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, 57100, Thailand and School of Public Health, Zunyi Medical University, Guizhou 563000, China.

 

Published online 16 June 2026

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