{{Short description|Species of lichen-forming fungus}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Use British English|date=March 2026}} {{Speciesbox | image = Fuscidea austera 1773772507.jpg | image_caption = Closeup of thallus and fruiting bodies; scale: 2 mm | taxon = Fuscidea austera | authority = (Nyl.) P.James (1980) | synonyms_ref = <ref name="Fungal Names"/><ref name="Species Fungorum synonymy"/> | synonyms = {{Collapsible list|bullets=on |''Lecanora austera'' {{au|Nyl. (1874)}} |''Lecidea contigua'' b ''aggregata'' {{au|Flot. (1828)}} |''Lecidea aggregata'' {{au|(Flot.) H.Magn. (1925)}} |''Fuscidea aggregata'' {{au|(Flot.) V.Wirth & Vězda (1972)}} |''Lecidea taeniarum'' {{au|Malme (1919)}} |''Fuscidea taeniarum'' {{au|(Malme) V.Wirth & Vězda (1972)}} |''Lecidea aggregatilis'' {{au|Grummann (1963)}} |''Fuscidea aggregatilis'' {{au|(Grummann) V.Wirth & Vězda (1976)}} }} }}
'''''Fuscidea austera''''' is a species of lichen-forming fungus in the family Fuscideaceae.<ref name="CoL_6JSHG"/> Originally described in 1874 from specimens collected in Scotland and placed in genus ''Lecanora'', it was reclassified in ''Fuscidea'' in 1980. The thallus is pale grey to chocolate-brown and cracked into small patches ({{lichengloss|areoles}}), with blackish-brown apothecia (fruiting bodies) up to 2 mm wide. The species grows on sheltered siliceous rock faces in the British Isles and has also been recorded from several countries in continental Europe and from Korea.
==Taxonomy== This species was originally described by William Nylander as ''Lecanora austera'' in 1874. In his original account, Nylander described it from material collected in Scotland on quartzose rock in sandy alpine habitat at Ben Cruachan, and noted its uneven, cracked brown thallus, dark brown apothecia, and ellipsoid spores.<ref name="Nylander 1874"/> In 1980, Peter James transferred it to the genus ''Fuscidea'', establishing the new combination ''Fuscidea austera''.<ref name="Hawksworth et al. 1980"/> Synonyms include ''Fuscidea aggregata'', ''Fuscidea aggregatilis'', and ''Fuscidea taeniarum''.<ref name="Species Fungorum synonymy"/>
In molecular phylogenetic studies of European ''Fuscidea'', ''Fuscidea austera'' was included in analyses of various genetic markers (ITS, LSU rRNA, and mtSSU sequences), which placed it near ''Fuscidea kochiana'' within a small clade of related species.<ref name="Zahradníková et al. 2017"/><ref name="Zahradníková et al. 2018"/>
==Description== The thallus of ''Fuscidea austera'' is pale grey to chocolate-brown and broken into a cracked surface of small, closely adjoining {{lichengloss|areoles}} about 0.2–0.5 mm in diameter. These areoles are thin and fairly even to somewhat irregular in shape, and may be slightly convex or somewhat warty in appearance. A black {{lichengloss|prothallus}} is usually present at the margin, helping to define the edge of the thallus. The apothecia (fruiting bodies) are {{lichengloss|sessile}} and 0.5–2 mm wide, with rounded to irregular outlines; they may occur singly or in clusters. Their {{lichengloss|disc}} is dull blackish brown, turning reddish brown when wet, and is usually flat, sometimes with a light dusting of {{lichengloss|pruina}}. The apothecial margin (the {{lichengloss|true exciple}}), is brown, often paler than the disc and sometimes patchy in colour, and remains persistent as it becomes strongly uneven or lobed. The ascospores are broadly ellipsoid, single-celled (aseptate), and usually 9–11 by 6.5–8 μm. Pycnidia are about 0.15 mm in diameter and are blackish brown around the ostiole. In standard chemical spot tests the thallus is negative for C, K, KC, and Pd, but it fluoresces bluish white under ultraviolet light; divaricatic acid is confined to the apothecia.<ref name="Cannon et al. 2024"/>
==Habitat and distribution== ''Fuscidea austera'' grows on sheltered, vertical siliceous rock faces, where it can form extensive mosaic-like patches. In the British Isles, it is a local species known from the Highlands of northern Scotland and from Snowdonia in Wales. It is rare in England, where it occurs especially on the coarse-grained sandstone known as Millstone Grit.<ref name="Cannon et al. 2024"/>
Outside the British Isles, ''Fuscidea austera'' has also been reported from Austria,<ref name="Tuerk et al. 2003"/> Czech Republic,<ref name="Malíček & Steinová 2026"/> Hungary, and Switzerland.<ref name="Kantvilas 2001"/> In 2014, it was recorded from the Polonyna Bukovs'ka ridge in Uzh National Nature Park, and that publication treated it as a new record for the lichen biota of Ukraine. It has also been documented in northern Europe, in the subalpine and alpine belts of Central European mountains,<ref name="Pirogov et al. 2014"/> and in Korea.<ref name="Aptroot & Moon 2014"/>
==References== <references>
<ref name="Aptroot & Moon 2014">{{cite journal |last1=Aptroot |first1=André |last2=Moon |first2=Kwang Hee |title=114 New reports of microlichens from Korea, including the description of five new species, show that the microlichen flora is predominantly Eurasian |journal=Herzogia |year=2014 |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=347–365 |doi=10.13158/heia.27.2.2014.347}}</ref>
<ref name="Cannon et al. 2024">{{cite book |last1=Cannon |first1=Paul |last2=Fryday |first2=Alan |last3=Coppins |first3=Brian |last4=Aptroot |first4=André |last5=Sanderson |first5=Neil |last6=Simkin |first6=Janet |year=2024 |title=Umbilicariales, including ''Elixia'' (Elixiaceae), ''Fuscidea'' (Fuscideaceae), ''Hypocenomyce'' and ''Ophioparma'' (Ophioparmaceae), ''Ropalospora'' (Ropalosporaceae) and ''Lasallia'', ''Umbilicaria'' and ''Xylopsora'' (Umbilicariaceae) |series=Revisions of British and Irish Lichens |volume=39 |page=6 |url=https://britishlichensociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/Umbilicariales.pdf}} {{Open access}}</ref>
<ref name="CoL_6JSHG">{{Catalogue of Life |id=6JSHG |title=''Fuscidea austera'' (Nyl.) P.James |access-date=24 March 2026}}</ref>
<ref name="Fungal Names">{{cite web |title=''Fuscidea austera'' |website=Fungal Names |url=https://nmdc.cn/fungalnames/namesearch/toallfungalinfo?recordNumber=113436 |access-date=24 March 2026}}</ref>
<ref name="Hawksworth et al. 1980">{{cite journal |last1=Hawksworth |first1=D.L. |last2=James |first2=P.W. |last3=Coppins |first3=B.J. |title=Checklist of British lichen-forming, lichenicolous and allied fungi |journal=The Lichenologist |volume=12 |issue=1 |year=1980 |doi=10.1017/s0024282980000035 |pages=1–115 [106]}}</ref>
<ref name="Kantvilas 2001">{{cite book |last=Kantvilas |first=Gintaras |year=2001 |chapter=The lichen family Fuscidaceae in Tasmania |title=Lichenological Contributions in Honour of Jack Elix |editor-last1=McCarthy |editor-first1=P.M. |editor-last2=Kantvilas |editor-first2=G. |editor-last3=Louwhoff |editor-first3=S.H.J.J. |series=Bibliotheca Lichenologica |volume=78 |publisher=J. Cramer |location=Berlin/Stuttgart |pages=169–192 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279752002}}</ref>
<ref name="Malíček & Steinová 2026">{{cite journal |last1=Malíček |first1=Jiří |last2=Steinová |first2=Jana |title=Contribution to lichen biota of the Krkonoše Mountains, the highest Czech mountain range |journal=Herzogia |year=2026 |volume=38 |issue=2 |doi=10.13158/heia.38.2.2025.308 |url=https://www.jjh.cz/upload/39274.pdf}}</ref>
<ref name="Nylander 1874">{{cite journal |last=Nylander |first=W. |year=1874 |title=Addenda nova ad lichenographiam europaeam. Contin. XVIII |trans-title=New additions to European lichenography. Continuation 18 |journal=Flora |volume=57 |pages=305–318 [309] |language=la |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/62234}}</ref>
<ref name="Pirogov et al. 2014">{{cite journal |last1=Pirogov |first1=M. |last2=Kvakovska |first2=I. |last3=Myzyuk |first3=T. |title=Epilitna likhenobiota khrebta Polonyna Bukovska (Uzhanskyi natsionalnyi pryrodnyi park) |trans-title=Epilithic lichen biota of the Polonyna Bukovska ridge (Uzhanskyi National Nature Park) |journal=Visnyk of the Lviv University. Series Biology |year=2014 |issue=67 |pages=73–82 |url=http://nbuv.gov.ua/UJRN/VLNU_biol_2014_67_10 |language=uk}}</ref>
<ref name="Species Fungorum synonymy">{{cite web |title=''Fuscidea austera'' (Nyl.) P. James, in Hawksworth, James & Coppins, Lichenologist 12(1): 106 (1980) |url=https://www.speciesfungorum.org/names/Synonymy.asp?RecordID=113436 |publisher=Species Fungorum |access-date=24 March 2026}}</ref>
<ref name="Tuerk et al. 2003">{{cite journal |last1=Tuerk |first1=Roman |last2=Hafellner |first2=Josef |title=Flechten in Kulturlandschaften: Ein Beitrag zur Flechtenflora des Innerpitztals, Tirol |trans-title=Lichens in cultural landscapes: a contribution to the lichen flora of the Inner Pitztal, Tyrol |journal=Berichte des Naturwissenschaftlich-medizinischen Vereins in Innsbruck |year=2003 |volume=90 |pages=53–111 [94] |language=de}}</ref>
<ref name="Zahradníková et al. 2017">{{cite journal |last1=Zahradníková |first1=Martina |last2=Tønsberg |first2=Tor |last3=Andersen |first3=Heidi Lie |title=The taxonomy of the lichen ''Fuscidea cyathoides''(Fuscideaceae, Umbilicariomycetidae, Ascomycota) in Europe |journal=The Lichenologist |year=2017 |volume=49 |issue=6 |pages=547–560 |doi=10.1017/s0024282917000524}}</ref>
<ref name="Zahradníková et al. 2018">{{cite journal |last1=Zahradníková |first1=Martina |last2=Andersen |first2=Heidi Lie |last3=Tønsberg |first3=Tor |title=''Fuscidea lightfootii'' and ''F. pusilla''(Fuscideaceae, Umbilicariomycetidae, Ascomycota), two similar but genetically distinct species |journal=The Lichenologist |year=2018 |volume=50 |issue=4 |pages=425–438 |doi=10.1017/s0024282918000270 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326555870}}</ref>
</references>
{{Taxonbar |from1=Q10500379 |from2=Q59506164 |from3=Q107686860 |from4=Q107969544 |from5=Q107687213 |from6=Q59507065 |from7=Q54366456}}
Category:Umbilicariales Category:Lichen species Category:Lichens described in 1874 Category:Lichens of Eastern Asia Category:Lichens of Eastern Europe Category:Lichens of Middle Europe Category:Lichens of Northern Europe Category:Taxa named by William Nylander (botanist)