{{Short description|Genus of lichen}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Use Oxford spelling|date=June 2025}} {{Automatic taxobox | taxon = Adelolecia | authority = Hertel & Hafellner (1984) | type_species = ''Adelolecia pilati'' | type_species_authority = Hertel & Hafellner (1984) | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = ''A. kolaensis''<br /> ''A. pilati''<br /> ''A. rhododendrina''<br /> ''A. sonorae'' }}

'''''Adelolecia''''' is a genus of crustose lichens in the family Lecanoraceae.<ref name="CoL_CCVFH"/> These rock-dwelling lichens form thin crusts made up of small angular patches, typically reaching about 12&nbsp;cm across with distinctive black, round fruiting bodies that sit directly on the surface. The genus includes four species found in mountainous and arctic regions, where they grow on various types of rock and are distinguished by chemical compounds (lichen products) that produce colourful diagnostic reactions when tested with laboratory solutions.

==Taxonomy==

The genus was circumscribed by Hannes Hertel and Josef Hafellner in 1984.<ref name="Hafellner 1984"/> The genus was formerly classified in the family Ramalinaceae, but molecular phylogenetic analysis showed it to belong to the Lecanoraceae.<ref name="Kistenich et al. 2018"/>

==Description==

''Adelolecia'' forms a thin crust on rock, either lying on the surface in tiny, angular islands ({{lichengloss|areoles}}) or growing within the upper grain of the stone itself. Colonies can reach about 12&nbsp;cm across but lack a darker {{lichengloss|prothallus}} fringe and never produce the powdery soredia or finger-like isidia that many crustose lichens use for reproduction. The internal partner is a ''Trebouxia''-type green alga, and the fungal medulla beneath the {{lichengloss|cortex}} is white and compact.<ref name="Cannon et al. 2024"/>

Black, round apothecia sit directly on the thallus and are slightly pinched where they meet the crust. Their {{lichengloss|discs}} may be shallowly cup-shaped, flat or gently domed and are edged by a prominent, long-lasting rim. Microscopy shows a dark-brown outer wall that is paler inside and made of broadly radiating hyphae; in ''A.&nbsp;pilati'' this wall contains yellow crystals that turn bright magenta in a drop of potassium hydroxide solution, a reaction caused by the anthraquinone compound 7-chloroemodin. The spore layer (hymenium) is colourless to bluish and stains deep blue with iodine, while the overlying gel is green to dark blue and envelopes slender paraphyses that separate in alkali. Each ascus is of the ''Biatora'' type and normally carries eight smooth, narrowly ellipsoid ascospores that remain single-celled and colourless. Asexual reproduction is rare: minute sunken pycnidia sometimes occur and release rod-shaped, colourless conidia. Chemically, some species contain atranorin or traces of xanthones in addition to the anthraquinone pigments mentioned above.<ref name="Cannon et al. 2024"/>

==Species== *''Adelolecia kolaensis'' {{small|(Nyl.) Hertel & Rambold (1995)}} *''Adelolecia pilati'' {{small|(Hepp) Hertel & Hafellner (1984)}} *''Adelolecia rhododendrina'' {{small|(Nyl.) Printzen (2001)}} *''Adelolecia sonorae'' {{small|Hertel (2004)}}

==References== {{Reflist|refs=

<ref name="Cannon et al. 2024">{{cite book |last1=Cannon |first1=P. |last2=Coppins |first2=B. |last3=Aptroot |first3=A. |last4=Fryday |first4=A. |last5=Sanderson |first5=N. |last6=Simkin |first6=J. |last7=Yahr |first7=R. |year=2024 |title=Miscellaneous Lecanorales including ''Biatorella'' (Biatorellaceae), ''Carbonicola'' (Carbonicolaceae), ''Haematomma'' (Haematommataceae), ''Psilolechia'' (Psilolechiaceae), ''Ramboldia'' (Ramboldiaceae), ''Scoliciosporum'' (Scoliciosporaceae), and ''Adelolecia'', ''Catinaria'', ''Frutidella'', ''Herteliana'', ''Lithocalla'', ''Myochroidea'', ''Puttea'' and ''Schadonia'' (of uncertain position) |series=Revisions of British and Irish Lichens |volume=42 |pages=11–12 |url=https://britishlichensociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/Lecanorales%20misc%20genera.pdf}}{{Open access}}</ref>

<ref name="CoL_CCVFH">{{Catalogue of Life |id=CCVFH |title=''Adelolecia'' |access-date=16 June 2025}}</ref>

<ref name="Hafellner 1984">{{cite journal |last=Hafellner |first=J. |year=1984 |title=Studien in Richtung einer natürlichen Gliederung der Sammelfamilien Lecanoracae und Lecideaceae |trans-title=Studies towards a natural classification of the aggregate families Lecanoraceae and Lecideaceae |journal=Beihefte zur Nova Hedwigia |volume=79 |pages=241–371 |language=de}}</ref>

<ref name="Kistenich et al. 2018">{{cite journal |last1=Kistenich |first1=Sonja |last2=Timdal |first2=Einar |last3=Bendiksby |first3=Mika |last4=Ekman |first4=Stefan |title=Molecular systematics and character evolution in the lichen family Ramalinaceae (Ascomycota: Lecanorales) |journal=Taxon |volume=67 |issue=5 |year=2018 |pages=871–904 |doi=10.12705/675.1|bibcode=2018Taxon..67..871K |hdl=11250/2599544 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q4682017}}

Category:Lecanoraceae Category:Lichen genera Category:Lecanorales genera Category:Taxa described in 1984 Category:Taxa named by Josef Hafellner Category:Taxa named by Hannes Hertel