Arthonia incarnata (Arthoniaceae), a rare and poorly known old‐growth forest lichen new to Asia

Abstract

The rare and poorly known Northern Hemisphere old‐growth forest lichen Arthonia incarnata is reported for the first time for Asia from Japan and Korea. A detailed description and illustration is provided for the species based on the collections from Japan and South Korea. Bayesian and RAxML analyses of mtSSU, nLSU and RPB2 sequence data show A. incarnata to be only distantly related to the other Arthonia species hitherto sequenced and in particular to superficially similar species occurring in the same type of habitat such as A. didyma, A. spadicea and A. vinosa. For the analysis we generated new sequence data of A. incarnata for the mtSSU (5 specimens) and RPB2 (5) gene loci. Slight variation was observed in sequence data of the RPB2 gene between collections from eastern Asia and Sweden, but this is not substantiated by differences in morphology or ecological behaviour. Arthonia incarnata is confined to humid forests and only grows on parts of tree trunks shaded from precipitation and running water such as the lower side of leaning trunks or cavities at the base of trees. The species is found on trees with acidic bark, in eastern Asia mainly on Betula but also on coniferous trees and on dead wood. It was not found on bark of Salix (caprea), a common substrate for the species in Europe.

Arthonia dokdoensis and Rufoplaca toktoana – Two New Taxa from Dokdo Islands (South Korea)

“…Frisch et G. Thor, as well as members of the A. molendoi group [38]. We agree with previous authors [9] that there is probably more than one generic group within the Bryostigma clade. Positions of seven of ten taxa of the Bryostigma clade are confirmed by combined mtSSU and RPB2 sequences (Figure 1), as well as by nrLSU phylogeny [1].…”

“…Given the combination of morphological characters presented above, in addition to the isolated position on the phylogenetic tree in Figure 1, A. incarnata appears to be a rather common species in oldgrowth forests in Japan (collected only once in Korea) [9], and cannot be connected easily with any of the generic names currently accepted in the synonymy of Arthonia [43]. At the current state of knowledge and with a proper revision of Arthonia s. l. still pending, this species should be in Arthonia for the time being instead of describing it for another poorly monotypic genus.…”

Two new species ofArthoniaceaefrom old-growth European forests,Arthonia thorianaandInoderma sorediatum, and a new genus forSchismatomma niveum

“…ex Almq. are lichenized and have more reddish (for A. helvola), larger ascomata and mainly 2-septate ascospores with an enlarged upper cell (Fink 1935;Redinger 1938;Poelt 1969;Sundin & Tehler 1998;Wirth et al 2013;Frisch et al 2017). Following the identification key to the species of Arthonia of the United States (Fink 1935), A. ochrolutea Nyl.…”

“…2013; Frisch et al . 2017). Following the identification key to the species of Arthonia of the United States (Fink 1935), A. ochrolutea Nyl.…”

Arthonia ulleungdoensis, a New Lichenized Fungus from Ulleung Island, South Korea

“…South Korea intently studied Arthonia since 2013 and many new species and records, including lichenized and lichenicolous fungi, were discovered [10,11,12]. For other countries, some new species/records were announced from Japan and three new records of foliicolous Arthonia species were reported recently from China [13,14,15].…”