# Coppinsia > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Coppinsia > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Coppinsia.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppinsia > Source revision: 1299418513 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Genus of lichen-forming fungi}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Use Oxford spelling|date=June 2025}} {{Speciesbox | image = | image_caption = | parent_authority = [Lumbsch](/source/Helge_Thorsten_Lumbsch) & Heibel (1998) | taxon = Coppinsia minutissima | authority = Lumbsch & Heibel (1998) }} '''''Coppinsia''''' is a fungal [genus](/source/genus) in the family [Trapeliaceae](/source/Trapeliaceae). It is a [monotypic](/source/monotypic) genus, containing the single species '''''Coppinsia minutissima''''', a lichen. This extremely small lichen forms an almost invisible, paint-thin crust on contaminated soil and produces tiny orange-pink fruiting bodies just 0.2–0.6 mm across. It specializes in growing on [heavy metal](/source/heavy_metals)-polluted sites such as abandoned lead mines and [spoil heap](/source/spoil_heap)s, where few other lichens can survive. ==Taxonomy== ''Coppinsia'' was erected in 1998 by [H. Thorsten Lumbsch](/source/Helge_Thorsten_Lumbsch) and Esther Heibel to accommodate a minute soil- and [bryophyte](/source/bryophyte)-dwelling lichen that could not be placed satisfactorily in any previously [circumscribed](/source/circumscription_(taxonomy)) genus. The material had been sent to Lumbsch by the British lichenologist [Brian John Coppins](/source/Brian_John_Coppins)—who had [provisionally](/source/Undescribed_taxon) labelled it "Trapelia vezdaeoides"—during a systematic review of the suborder Agyriineae. Formal publication recognised the distinctive combination of a thallus consisting only of an algal layer topped by an {{lichengloss|epinecral}} film, extremely small {{lichengloss|biatorine}} apothecia with a cup-like but often greatly reduced hyaline {{lichengloss|exciple}}, unbranched or only slightly branched [paraphyses](/source/paraphyses), a ''Trapelia''-type [ascus](/source/ascus) and simple ovoid [ascospore](/source/ascospore)s. The [holotype](/source/holotype) was collected from metalliferous spoil at Esgair Fraith Mine, [Cardiganshire](/source/Cardiganshire), Wales, on 22 March 1993. [Morphologically](/source/morphology_(biology)), ''Coppinsia'' shows affinities to ''Trapelia''—both share a ''Trapelia''-type ascus, sparsely branched [paraphyses](/source/paraphyses) and one-celled spores—but it differs in its reduced, hyaline true exciple and in lacking both cortex and medulla in the vegetative body. It also diverges from ''[Anzina](/source/Anzina)'', ''[Agyrium](/source/Agyrium)'' and ''[Amylora](/source/Amylora)'', which either possess annular or carbonised exciples, stratified thalli or multicellular, halonate spores. Because these distinctions fall within character suites traditionally used to delimit genera in the [Agyriaceae](/source/Agyriaceae), Lumbsch and Heibel considered the material generically isolated and erected ''Coppinsia'' to preserve taxonomic clarity. No [DNA sequence](/source/DNA_sequence) data were available at the time of description, and the [phylogenetic](/source/phylogenetic) position of the genus within the family therefore rests on morphological evidence alone. The generic name honours Coppins for his wide-ranging contributions to British lichenology, while the [specific epithet](/source/botanical_name) ''minutissima'' ([Latin](/source/Latin) for 'smallest') refers to the lichen's almost imperceptible thallus and tiny apothecia. ==Description== ''Coppinsia minutissima'' forms an exceedingly thin, crust-like [thallus](/source/thallus) that sits flush against its substrate like a coat of paint. Where visible, the thallus appears greenish-grey, but it often manifests only as a faint discolouration of the bark or rock it grows on. Its upper surface is protected by a delicate {{lichengloss|epinecral layer}}—a film of dead fungal cells that helps reduce water loss—yet it lacks the more robust cortex and inner [medulla](/source/medulla_(lichenology)) that many lichens possess. The [photosynthetic](/source/photosynthesis) partner ({{lichengloss|photobiont}}) consists of tiny, spherical [green alga](/source/green_alga)e (a {{lichengloss|chlorococcoid}} alga). No dark {{lichengloss|prothallus}} line surrounds the colony, and [thin-layer chromatography](/source/thin-layer_chromatography) has detected no characteristic [lichen product](/source/lichen_product)s. The reproductive structures are minute, stalkless [apothecia](/source/apothecia) just 0.2–0.6 mm across. They are {{lichengloss|biatorine}}, meaning the {{lichengloss|disc}} and its rim are the same pale orange-to-pinkish colour and the margin is not blackened or greyed with protective pigments. Inside, the true exciple—a cup of intertwined, colourless [hypha](/source/hypha)e—is up to 25 [micrometre](/source/micrometre)s (μm) thick in young apothecia but becomes inconspicuous with age. The [hymenium](/source/hymenium), a clear layer 120–160 μm tall, contains slender paraphyses (1.5–2.5 μm wide) that remain unbranched or only slightly branched and thicken only marginally at their tips. [Asci](/source/ascus) are ''Trapelia''-type cylinders (110–140 × 15–22 μm) that [stain](/source/staining) only faintly bluish in iodine and show a tube-shaped [amyloid](/source/amyloid_(mycology)) structure in the apex ({{lichengloss|tholus}}). Each ascus produces eight single-celled, colourless [ascospore](/source/ascospore)s that are ovoid and measure 12–18 × 7–9.5 μm. No asexual fruiting bodies ([conidiomata](/source/conidiomata)) have been observed. ==Habitat and distribution== ''Coppinsia minutissima'' grows on bare or lightly vegetated ground in sites where [heavy metals](/source/heavy_metals) hinder most other lichens. It forms a thin film on mineral soil, decaying [moss](/source/moss)es, dying lichen thalli and fine plant detritus in and around abandoned lead mines, metal-rich [spoil heap](/source/spoil_heap)s and railway embankments. Because the thallus is almost invisible, the species is probably under-recorded. Verified records come from south-west England, with additional occurrences in [West Sussex](/source/West_Sussex), [East Suffolk](/source/East_Suffolk_(county)), the [Scottish Highlands](/source/Scottish_Highlands) and western Wales. At these localities ''C. minutissima'' frequently co-occurs with the diminutive metal-tolerant lichens ''[Vezdaea acicularis](/source/Vezdaea_acicularis)'' and ''[V. cobria](/source/Vezdaea_cobria)''. ==References== {{Reflist|refs= {{Catalogue of Life |id=3TQN |title=''Coppinsia'' |access-date=16 June 2025}} {{cite journal |last1=Lumbsch |first1=H.T. |last2=Heibel |first2=E. |year=1998 |title=''Coppinsia minutissima'', a new genus and species in the Agyriaceae from the British Isles |journal=The Lichenologist |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=95–101 |doi=10.1006/lich.1997.0120 |bibcode=1998ThLic..30...95L |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231985294}} {{cite book |last1=Orange |first1=A. |last2=Cannon |first2=P. |last3=Aptroot |first3=A. |last4=Coppins |first4=B. |last5=Sanderson |first5=N. |last6=Simkin |first6=J. |year=2021 |title=Baeomycetales: Trapeliaceae, including the genera ''Coppinsia'', ''Placopsis'', ''Placynthiella'', ''Rimularia'', ''Trapelia'' and ''Trapeliopsis'' |series=Revisions of British and Irish Lichens |volume=18 |page=3 |url=https://britishlichensociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/Trapeliaceae.pdf}} }} {{Taxonbar|from=Q112796}} Category:Baeomycetales Category:Baeomycetales genera Category:Lichen genera Category:Taxa described in 1998 Category:Taxa named by Helge Thorsten Lumbsch --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Coppinsia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppinsia) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppinsia?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.