Fungalpedia – Note 2170, Dacampia
Dacampia. A. Massal.
Citation when using this data: Hongsanan S et al. 2020 – Fungalpedia, Ascomycota.
Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig 1
Classification: Dacampiaceae, Pleosporales, Pleosporomycetidae, Dothideomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi
Notes – Dacampia, typified by Dacampia hookeri, was introduced by Massalongo (1853). Most species of Dacampia are parasitic and form necrotic patches on the host thallus or tend to be commensalistic. However, the type species is lichenized (except for juvenile stages that might facultatively transform the thallus of Solorina bispora), forming white lichenized thalli with Coccomyxa and external cephalodia with Nostoc (Henssen 1995). It grows on soil in arctic-alpine habitats. The closely related D. engeliana is an obligate lichenicolous fungus but modifies its host lichen to form a similar thallus structure as found in D. hookeri (Henssen 1995). Ertz et al. (2015) re-collected the type species and D. engeliana with LSU sequence data available in GenBank. For morphology of type species see Henssen (1995) and Ertz et al. (2015). A key to seven species is given by Halici & Hawksworth (2008).
Type species: Dacampia hookeri (Borrer) A. Massal.
≡ Verrucaria hookeri Borrer, in Hooker & Sowerby, Suppl. Engl. Bot. 1: tab. 2622, fig. 2 (1831)
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Dacampia.
Figure 1 – Morphology of Dacampia (a–g = D. hookeri; h, i = D. engeliana). a thallus on soil (Austria, Ertz 20505). b thallus with two perithecia (arrows), sectioned in several places to show the greenish photobiont of this lichenized species (Austria, Ertz 20505). c Section through a perithecium and the adjoining thallus in water (Austria, Ertz 20505). d Asci with ascospores and pseudoparaphyses in water (Austria, Hafellner 75980). e Upper part of two asci with ascospores, in water (Austria, Ertz 20505). f, g Ascospores in water. h, i Dacampia engeliana parasitizing a squamule of Solorina saccata (Liechtenstein, Hafellner 72868). Scale bars: a, h, i = 1 mm, b = 500 μm, c = 100 μm, d = 50 μm, e = 20 μm, f, g = 10 μm.
References
Henssen A. 1995 – Studies on the biology and structure of Dacampia (Dothideales), a genus with lichenized and lichenicolous species. Cryptogamic Botany 5, 149–158.
Massalongo AB. 1853 – Nota sulla Lecidea Hookeri di Schaerer. Ramanzini, Verona, pp 1–9.
Entry by
Sinang Hongsanan, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Plant Epigenetics, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Microbial Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Oceanography, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, People’s Republic of China, Center of Excellence in Fungal Research, Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50002, Thailand
Published online 8 April 2026