Cryptothecia is a genus of white to greenish crustose lichens that grow on bark, wood, or leaves, in tropical or subtropical areas worldwide. It has a conspicuous prothallus that develops around its periphery which can be bright red in some species, hence the common name wreath lichen. The main vegetative body (thallus) lacks a cortex (ecorticate and is often immersed in the substrate or byssoid (whispy, like teased wool). The medulla is white, well defined, and often peppered with calcium oxalate crystals. Ascomata are not well defined, being cushions of soft white mycelium immersed in the medullary tissue, hence the name from the Greek krypto = "to conceal" and theke = "a container or sheath". It contains Trentepohlia, a green alga, as its photobiont partner.

Two species have been described in North America. At least one species, Cryptothecia rubrocincta, has been used in Brazil as a source of dye.

Taxonomy

The genus was circumscribed by James Stirton in 1877, with Cryptothecia subnidulans assigned as the type species.

Description

Species in the genus Cryptothecia have a crustose thallus, which can be either immersed in the or its surface. The colour of the thallus ranges from white to greenish, often with a (cottony) texture. Some species have spherical isidia-like , although soredia are absent. The prothallus typically consists of interwoven or radiating hyphae, and the may be either distinct or indistinct. The medulla is usually well-defined, white, and frequently amyloid, often containing numerous colourless calcium oxalate crystals.

Cryptothecia does not have well-defined ascomata (fruiting bodies). Its areas, which can be common or rare, are restricted to cushions of soft white mycelium within the loose medullary tissue. These areas tend to spread over the whole thallus, forming small clusters near the surface or cushion-like structures. Asci are spherical to ovoid, , and thick-walled, typically measuring 60–160 by 30–130μm. They are enclosed in a cocoon-like layer and contain 1–8 spores. The are , ellipsoidal, and often somewhat curved, ranging from 40–110 by 15–65μm in size.

Conidiomata in Cryptothecia are and range from immersed in the substrate to emergent, with a dark brown wall. Conidiogenous cells are , and (rod-shaped) to narrowly (club-shaped_. The conidia are colourless, simple, bacilliform, and range from 3–8 by about 1μm, or they can be thread-like, (threadlike), and multiseptate, measuring 110–140 by about 1.5μm.

Species

, Species Fungorum (in the Catalogue of Life) accepts 53 species of Cryptothecia.

• Cryptothecia alboglauca – India

• Cryptothecia albomaculans

• Cryptothecia albomaculatella – Thailand

• Cryptothecia aleurinoides – Thailand

• Cryptothecia atropunctata

• Cryptothecia austrocoreana

• Cryptothecia bengalensis – India

• Cryptothecia calusarum – USA

• Cryptothecia chamelensis – Mexico

• Cryptothecia darwiniana – Galápagos Islands

• Cryptothecia demethylconfluentica – Brazil

• Cryptothecia duplofluorescens – Brazil

• Cryptothecia elata

• Cryptothecia elongata

• Cryptothecia eungellae

• Cryptothecia evergladensis

• Cryptothecia exilis

• Cryptothecia fabispora – Brazil

• Cryptothecia farinosa – India

• Cryptothecia fuscopunctata

• Cryptothecia galapagoana – Galápagos Islands

• Cryptothecia inexspectata

• Cryptothecia isidioxantha

• Cryptothecia lecanorosorediata – Brazil

• Cryptothecia lichexanthonica – Brazil

• Cryptothecia macrocephala – Brazil

• Cryptothecia methylmicrophyllinica

• Cryptothecia methylperlatolica – Brazil

• Cryptothecia multipunctata – India

• Cryptothecia odishensis – India

• Cryptothecia parvopsoromica – Brazil

• Cryptothecia punctosorediata

• Cryptothecia randallii – USA

• Cryptothecia rhizophora – Brazil

• Cryptothecia rosae-iselae – Bolivia

• Cryptothecia scripta

• Cryptothecia stockerae – Seychelles

• Cryptothecia submacrocephala – USA

• Cryptothecia subnidulans

• Cryptothecia superphyllinica

• Cryptothecia verruculifera – India

References

Further reading

• U.Makhija & P.G.Patwardhan, A contribution towards a monograph of the lichen genus Cryptothecia (family Arthoniaceae), Current Res. Pl. Sci. 1994: 57–72 (1994)

• R.Lücking, G.Thor, A.Aptroot, K.Kalb & J.A.Elix, The Cryptothecia candida complex revisited, Lichenologist 38: 235–240 (2006).