Fungalpedia – Note 2656, Paralecia
Paralecia Brackel, Greiner, Peršoh & Rambold.
Citation when using this data: Meng QF et al. – Fungalpedia.
Index Fungorum, faceoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig 1.
Classification: Cladoniaceae, Lecanorales, Lecanoromycetidae, Lecanoromycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi
Paralecia was introduced by Brackel et al. (2015) to accommodate the type species P. pratorum, which grows on Protoparmeliopsis muralis. The monotypic genus is characterized by its lichenicolous lifestyle, lecideine apothecia, clavate asci with an I+ blue, tube-like apical structure, and hyaline, simple ascospores. In the phylogenetic analysis of Liu et al. (2015), this genus is closely related to the lichenized genus Squamarina Poelt. Therefore, it was considered a member of the Squamarinaceae Hafellner. Diederich et al. (2018a) included Paralecia within Stereocaulaceae Chevall. Kraichak et al. (2018) conducted a revised classification of Leanoromycetes, synonymizing Squamarinaceae and Stereocaulaceae with Cladoniaceae. Consequently, Paralecia was included in Cladoniaceae (Wijayawardene et al. 2020, 2022, Hyde et al. 2024).
Type species: Paralecia pratorum Brackel, Greiner, Peršoh & Rambold, on Protoparmeliopsis muralis.
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Paralecia.
Figure 1 – Paralecia pratorum redrawn from Liu et al. (2015). a Ascomata of P. pratorum on young lobes of Protoparmeliopsis muralis. b Apothecium in longitudinal section. c Asci at different ontogenetical stages. d Paraphyses. Scale bars: a = 1 mm, b = 50 μm, c = 20 μm.
References
Wijayawardene NN, Hyde K, Al-Ani L, Tedersoo L et al. 2020 – Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa. Mycosphere 11 (1), 1060–1456.
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 1 July 2026