Fungalpedia – Note 2658, Phacopsis

Phacopsis Tul. 

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

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

Classification: Parmeliaceae, Lecanorales, Lecanoromycetidae, Lecanoromycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi

Phacopsis was originally described by Tulasne (1852) as a genus of parasitic lichens that exhibit a paradoxical, fungiform appearance, lacking a thallus and parasitizing various foliose, fruticose, and crustose species. The type species, Phacopsis vulpina Tul., was later designated by Clements et al. (1931). The genus is characterized by apothecia that initially develop hypophloeodally but eventually become exposed, innate-adnate to the substrate, and effuse, lacking distinct margins. The apothecia are black, manifesting as irregular, deformed patches. Asci are obovate, thick-walled, and contain 6–8 spores, which are oblong, sparsely septate, and pale. Spermogonia are embedded in the center of the apothecia, producing slender, straight, and short spermatia (Tulasne 1852).

To date, 13 lichenicolous species are recognized within Phacopsis, as documented in Index Fungorum (2025) and MycoBank (2025). A phylogenetic analysis conducted by Peršoh et al. (2002) based on SSU sequences placed Phacopsis within Parmeliaceae (Lecanorales), a classification that has been widely accepted by subsequent researchers (Lumbsch et al. 2007, Wijayawardene et al. 2018, 2022). 

Type species: Phacopsis vulpina Tul.

Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Phacopsis.

Figure 1 – Phacopsis vulpina redrawn from Triebel et al. (1995)). a Asci. b Ascospores. Scale bar: a = 10 μm.

 

References

Clements FE, Shear CL 1931 – The Genera of Fungi. Edn 2. Wilson, New York, 1–496.

Lumbsch HT, Huhndorf SM. 2007 – Outline of Ascomycota—2007. Myconet 13, 1–58.

Peršoh D, Rambold G. 2002 – Phacopsis — A lichenicolous genus of the family Parmeliaceae. Mycological Progress 1 (1), 43–55.

Tulasne L-R. 1852 – Mémoire pour servir à l’histoire organographique et physiologique des Lichens. Annales des Sciences Naturelles. Botanique, 5–128.

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.

Wijayawardene NN, Hyde KD, Lumbsch HT, Liu JK et al. 2018 – Outline of Ascomycota: 2017. Fungal Diversity 88 (1), 167–263.

 

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

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