{{Short description|Species of lichen-forming fungus}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2026}} {{Use Oxford spelling|date=January 2026}} {{Speciesbox | image = | image_caption = | taxon = Gyalectidium kenyanum | authority = [[Robert Lücking|Lücking]] & [[Klaus Kalb|Kalb]] (2001) | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 3 | mapframe-coordinates = {{coord|1|03|S|37|05|E}} | mapframe-caption = [[type locality (biology)|Type locality]]: [[Ol Donyo Sabuk]] east of [[Thika]], Kenya }}

'''''Gyalectidium kenyanum''''' is a species of [[lichen]] in the family [[Gomphillaceae]].<ref name="CoL_3HNNY"/> It is a [[foliicolous lichen|leaf-dwelling lichen]] known only from [[montane]] rainforest in Kenya, where it was discovered at about 2,100&nbsp;metres elevation. The species is distinguished by its unusual reproductive structures that form small crater-like depressions with a ring of narrow, bristle-like segments pointing inward around greyish fungal tissue, a feature it shares only with the Central American species ''[[Gyalectidium denticulatum]]''.

==Taxonomy== ''Gyalectidium kenyanum'' was [[species description|described]] as a new species in 2001 by [[Robert Lücking]] and [[Klaus Kalb]]. In the original treatment it was compared with ''[[Gyalectidium denticulatum]]'', since both species share the same unusual {{lichengloss|hyphophore}} type: a crater-like depression with a ring of narrow segments arranged around the diahyphal mass. ''G.&nbsp;kenyanum'' was separated by its smaller [[thallus]], fewer hyphophores per thallus patch, longer scale segments that often cover the diahyphal mass, and by the greyish (rather than green) colour of the diahyphal mass.<ref name="Ferraro et al. 2001"/>

==Description== The [[thallus]] forms rounded patches about 1–3&nbsp;mm across. The thallus comprises small, blister-like segments ({{lichengloss|areolate}}-{{lichengloss|bullate}}) and is heavily covered with a continuous layer of crystals, giving it a silvery to whitish-grey appearance.<ref name="Ferraro et al. 2001"/>

Hyphophores ([[asexual reproduction|asexual reproductive]] structures) are produced on the thallus surface and are immersed in it; usually 1–3 occur per thallus patch. Each hyphophore forms a small, rounded depression about 0.15–0.2&nbsp;mm in diameter. From the rim of the depression, the hyphophore "scale" is divided into narrowly triangular to bristle-like segments that point inward toward the centre; the segments are about 0.1–0.2&nbsp;mm long and 10–20&nbsp;μm broad. The segments are whitish, and the diahyphal mass (the underlying reproductive fungal tissue) is greyish. [[Apothecia]] (fruiting bodies) are rare but present. They are angular-rounded, about 0.15–0.25&nbsp;mm in diameter, with a pale yellowish-brown to greyish {{lichengloss|disc}} that can be thinly {{lichengloss|pruinose}} and a whitish margin. The [[ascospore]]s are oblong-[[ellipsoid]], measuring 30–50×10–15&nbsp;[[μm]]. [[Pycnidia]] were not reported.<ref name="Ferraro et al. 2001"/>

==Habitat and distribution== This species is known only from the [[type (biology)#Type locality|type locality]] in Kenya, where it was collected in [[montane]] rainforest at about 2,100&nbsp;m elevation. It was reported from the same locality as ''[[Gyalectidium atrosquamulatum]]''.<ref name="Ferraro et al. 2001"/> In a 2002 survey of leaf-dwelling lichens in Kenya, ''Gyalectidium kenyanum'' was one of six ''[[Gyalectidium]]'' species known to occur in the country.<ref name="Lücking et al. 2002"/>

==References== <references>

<ref name="CoL_3HNNY">{{Catalogue of Life |id=3HNNY |title=''Gyalectidium kenyanum'' Lücking & Kalb |access-date=27 January 2026}}</ref>

<ref name="Ferraro et al. 2001">{{cite journal |last1=Ferraro |first1=Lidia I. |last2=Lücking |first2=Robert |last3=Sérusiaux |first3=Emmanuël |year=2001 |title=A world monograph of the lichen genus ''Gyalectidium'' (Gomphillaceae) |journal=Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=137 |issue=3 |pages=311–345 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8339.2001.tb01126.x |doi-access=free}}</ref>

<ref name="Lücking et al. 2002">{{cite journal |last1=Lücking |first1=Robert |last2=Kalb |first2=Klaus |title=New species and further additions to the foliicolous lichen flora of Kenya (East Africa), including the first lichenicolous ''Aulaxina'' (Ostropales: Gomphillaceae) |journal=Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=139 |issue=2 |year=2002 |pages=171–180 |doi=10.1046/j.1095-8339.2002.00058.x |doi-access=free}}</ref>

</references>

{{Taxonbar|from=Q21271010}}

[[Category:Gyalectidium|kenyanum]] [[Category:Lichen species]] [[Category:Lichens described in 2001]] [[Category:Lichens of Kenya]] [[Category:Taxa named by Robert Lücking]] [[Category:Taxa named by Klaus Kalb]]