Fungalpedia – Note 2609, Labrocarpon

 

Labrocarpon Etayo & Pérez-Ort.

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

Labrocarpon was established by Pérez-Ortega et al. (2010) to accommodate the type species L. canariensis (D. Hawksw.) Etayo & Pérez-Ortega, which was transferred from Melaspilea canariensis D. Hawksw. This genus is characterized by lirelliform, lip-shaped black ascomata with a broader center, narrow sides, and a distinct groove. The excipulum is dark brown to carbonaceous, pseudoparenchymatous, and continuous, with the base immersed in host lichens. The periphysoids are highly inflated, and the paraphyses are septate. The asci are broadly clavate and bitunicate, while the ellipsoidal, brown, 1-septate ascospores are constricted and smooth (Pérez-Ortega et al. 2010).

Ertz and Diederich (2015) conducted a phylogenetic analysis using LSU sequence data and confirmed that Labrocarpon belongs to a clade within Asterinales. Their results also suggested that parts of the genera in this clade might represent a new family. Dai et al. (2018) introduced the lichenicolous family Stictographaceae to accommodate several genera with either lichenicolous or saprobic life cycles based on phylogenetic analyses using available sequence data. Labrocarpon is included in Stictographaceae.

Joshi (2022) described a second species of this genus, Labrocarpon submuriforme, which grows on the thallus and apothecial disc of Ochrolechia, further expanding the diversity of this genus.

Type species : Labrocarpon canariense (D. Hawksw.) Etayo & Pérez-Ortega.

Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Labrocarpon

Figure 1 – Labrocarpon canariensis redrawn from Melaspilea canariensis Hawksworth (1982a), a Apothecia. b Section of apothecium. c paraphyses. d Young ascus with hyaline ascospores. e Discharging ascus with brown ascospores. f Ascospores. Scale bars: a = 200 μm, b = 100 μm, c–f = 10 μm.

 

References

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.

Diederich P. 2015 – Two new lichenicolous species of Sclerococcum (asexual Ascomycetes) growing on Graphidaceae. Bulletin de la Société des naturalistes luxembourgeois 117, 35–42.

Pérez-Ortega S, Halici MG, Knudsen K, Candan M. 2010b – A new species of Stigmidium sensu stricto on Thelenella muscorum. The Lichenologist 42 (4), 397–403.

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

Joshi Y. 2022a – A New Species of Labrocarpon (Asterinales), a Lichenicolous Ascomycota With Submuriform Ascospores From India. Acta Botanica Hungarica 64 (3–4), 285–291.

 

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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