Fungalpedia – Note 2664, Lichenosticta

 

Lichenosticta Zopf.

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

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

Classification: Lecanorales genera incertae sedis, Lecanoromycetidae, Lecanoromycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi

The coelomycetous genus Lichenosticta was introduced by Zopf (1898) to accommodate the type species L. podetiicola, which parasitizes the podetia of Cladonia gracilis f. hybrida. It is characterized by small, subglobose to broadly pyriform, translucent brown to black pycnidia, with a diameter of about 60–150 μm. Due to the absence of sterigmata, the conidia are directly pinched from the wall of fruiting bodies. These conidia are variable in shape, broadly or narrowly elliptical, egg-shaped, or slightly curved, hyaline, aseptate, smooth-walled, and contain small oil droplets.

Pino-Bodas et al. (2017) conducted a phylogenetic analysis of the lichenicolous fungi associated with Cladonia, revealing that three strains of Lichenosticta alcicorniaria form a single clade closely related to Gypsoplaca within the Lecanorales. Wijayawardene et al. (2020, 2022) and Hyde et al. (2024) accepted this viewpoint and placed Lichenosticta within the Lecanorales, as genera incertae sedis.

Following the introduction of the first species, Hawksworth et al. (1980) transferred a second species, Lichenosticta alcicornaria, from Microthelia alcicornaria Linds., which grows on Cladonia foliacea. Zhurbenko et al. (2015d) transferred another species, L. lecanorae, from Dendrophoma lecanorae Vouaux which grows on Lecanora. Additionally, four more species have been introduced and described in this genus (Zhurbenko 2010b, Flakus et al. 2012, Zhurbenko et al. 2015d, Zhurbenko et al. 2015e, von Brackel et al. 2023b). There are seven species accepted in this genus and six sequences of Lichenosticta alcicornaria are available in GenBank.

Type species: Lichenosticta podetiicola Zopf.

Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Lichenosticta

Figure 1 – Lichenosticta podetiicola redrawn from Zopf (1898). a Host lichen Cladonia. b Section of apothecia. c Ascospores.

 

References

Flakus A, Kukwa M. 2012 – New species of lichenicolous fungi from Bolivia. The Lichenologist 44 (4), 469–477.

Hawksworth DL. 1980a – Notes on some fungi occurring on Peltigera, with a key to accepted species. Transactions of the British Mycological Society 74 (2), 363–386.

.Hyde KD, Noorabadi M, Thiyagaraja V, He M et al. 2024 – The 2024 Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa. mycosphere 15, 5146–6239.

Pino-Bodas R, Zhurbenko M, Stenroos S. 2017 – Phylogenetic placement within Lecanoromycetes of lichenicolous fungi associated with Cladonia and some other genera. Persoonia-Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution of Fungi 39 (1), 91–117.

von Brackel W. 2013b – Miscellaneous records of lichenicolous fungi from the Italian Alps. Herzogia 26 (1), 141–158.

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, Frisch A, Ohmura Y, Thor G. 2015d – Lichenicolous Fungi from Japan and Korea: New Species, New Records and a First Synopsis for Japan. Herzogia 28 (2), 762–789.

Zhurbenko MP, Pino-Bodas R. 2015e – New lichenicolous fungi growing on Cladia in New Zealand. The Lichenologist 47 (6), 395–402.

Zhurbenko MP. 2010b – Lichenicolous fungi and lichens growing on Stereocaulon from the Holarctic, with a key to the known species. Opuscula Philolichenum 8, 9–39.

Zopf W. 1898 – Untersuchungen über die durch parasitische Pilze hervorgerufenen Krankheiten der Flechten. Nova Acta Academiae Caesareae Leopoldino-Carolinae Germanicae Naturae Curiosorum 70 (4), 243–288.

 

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 2 July 2026

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