Fungalpedia – Note 2650, Gemmaspora
Gemmaspora D. Hawksw. & Halici.
Citation when using this data: Meng QF et al. – Fungalpedia.
Index Fungorum, Faceoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig 1.
Classification: Verrucariales genera incertae sedis, Chaetothyriomycetidae, Eurotiomycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi.
Gemmaspora was introduced by Hawksworth et al. (2007) to accommodate the lichenicolous fungus G. lecanorae, originally described as Adelococcus lecanorae Werner, which grows on the thallus of Aspicilia cf. farinose. The genus is characterized by black, carbonaceous perithecia that are immersed to erumpent, with a thick, two-layered exciple—an outer colorless layer and an inner red-brown to dark brown layer. The hamathecium consists of periphyses, lacking interascal filaments, and the centrum reacts I+ reddish, turning intensely blue after KOH pretreatment. Asci are elongate-clavate, bitunicate, with a broad internal apical beak that diminishes with maturity, 8-spored, and of the Verrucaria-type. Ascospores are globose to subglobose, red-brown, (0)–1 distoseptate, with thick, two-layered walls. Due to a lack of molecular data, its phylogenetic status remains uncertain, tentatively placed in Verrucariales genera incertae sedis (Hawksworth et al. 2007).
Type species: Gemmaspora lecanorae (Werner) D. Hawksw. & Halici (Hawksworth et al. 2007).
=Adelococcus lecanorae Werner (Werner 1963).
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Gemmaspora.
Figure 1 – Gemmaspora lecanorae redrawn from Hawksworth et al. (2007). a Apothecia on thallus. b Section of apothecium. c Part of ascomata wall. d Asci. e Ascospores. Scale bars: a = 1 mm, b = 100 μm, c–e = 10 μm.
References
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 30 June 2026