# Gyalectidium kenyanum

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Species of lichen-forming fungus

Gyalectidium kenyanum Scientific classification Kingdom: Fungi Division: Ascomycota Class: Lecanoromycetes Order: Graphidales Family: Gomphillaceae Genus: Gyalectidium Species: G. kenyanum Binomial name Gyalectidium kenyanum Lücking & Kalb (2001) Type locality: Ol Donyo Sabuk east of Thika, Kenya

***Gyalectidium kenyanum*** is a species of [lichen](/source/Lichen) in the family [Gomphillaceae](/source/Gomphillaceae).[1] It is a [leaf-dwelling lichen](/source/Foliicolous_lichen) known only from [montane](/source/Montane) rainforest in Kenya, where it was discovered at about 2,100 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](/source/Gyalectidium_denticulatum)*.

## Taxonomy

*Gyalectidium kenyanum* was [described](/source/Species_description) as a new species in 2001 by [Robert Lücking](/source/Robert_L%C3%BCcking) and [Klaus Kalb](/source/Klaus_Kalb). In the original treatment it was compared with *[Gyalectidium denticulatum](/source/Gyalectidium_denticulatum)*, since both species share the same unusual [hyphophore](/source/Glossary_of_lichen_terms#hyphophore) type: a crater-like depression with a ring of narrow segments arranged around the diahyphal mass. *G. kenyanum* was separated by its smaller [thallus](/source/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.[2]

## Description

The [thallus](/source/Thallus) forms rounded patches about 1–3 mm across. The thallus comprises small, blister-like segments ([areolate](/source/Glossary_of_lichen_terms#areolate)-[bullate](/source/Glossary_of_lichen_terms#bullate)) and is heavily covered with a continuous layer of crystals, giving it a silvery to whitish-grey appearance.[2]

Hyphophores ([asexual reproductive](/source/Asexual_reproduction) 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 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 mm long and 10–20 μm broad. The segments are whitish, and the diahyphal mass (the underlying reproductive fungal tissue) is greyish. [Apothecia](/source/Apothecia) (fruiting bodies) are rare but present. They are angular-rounded, about 0.15–0.25 mm in diameter, with a pale yellowish-brown to greyish [disc](/source/Glossary_of_lichen_terms#disc) that can be thinly [pruinose](/source/Glossary_of_lichen_terms#pruinose) and a whitish margin. The [ascospores](/source/Ascospore) are oblong-[ellipsoid](/source/Ellipsoid), measuring 30–50×10–15 [μm](/source/%CE%9Cm). [Pycnidia](/source/Pycnidia) were not reported.[2]

## Habitat and distribution

This species is known only from the [type locality](/source/Type_(biology)#Type_locality) in Kenya, where it was collected in [montane](/source/Montane) rainforest at about 2,100 m elevation. It was reported from the same locality as *[Gyalectidium atrosquamulatum](/source/Gyalectidium_atrosquamulatum)*.[2] In a 2002 survey of leaf-dwelling lichens in Kenya, *Gyalectidium kenyanum* was one of six *[Gyalectidium](/source/Gyalectidium)* species known to occur in the country.[3]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-CoL_3HNNY_1-0)** ["*Gyalectidium kenyanum* Lücking & Kalb"](https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/3HNNY). *[Catalogue of Life](/source/Catalogue_of_Life)*. [Species 2000](/source/Species_2000): Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 27 January 2026.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Ferraro_et_al._2001_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Ferraro_et_al._2001_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Ferraro_et_al._2001_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Ferraro_et_al._2001_2-3) Ferraro, Lidia I.; Lücking, Robert; Sérusiaux, Emmanuël (2001). ["A world monograph of the lichen genus *Gyalectidium* (Gomphillaceae)"](https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1095-8339.2001.tb01126.x). *Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society*. **137** (3): 311–345. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1111/j.1095-8339.2001.tb01126.x](https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1095-8339.2001.tb01126.x).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Lücking_et_al._2002_3-0)** Lücking, Robert; Kalb, Klaus (2002). ["New species and further additions to the foliicolous lichen flora of Kenya (East Africa), including the first lichenicolous *Aulaxina* (Ostropales: Gomphillaceae)"](https://doi.org/10.1046%2Fj.1095-8339.2002.00058.x). *Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society*. **139** (2): 171–180. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1046/j.1095-8339.2002.00058.x](https://doi.org/10.1046%2Fj.1095-8339.2002.00058.x).

Taxon identifiers Gyalectidium kenyanum Wikidata: Q21271010 Wikispecies: Gyalectidium kenyanum CoL: 3HNNY GBIF: 3419834 IndexFungorum: 489260 MycoBank: 489260 Open Tree of Life: 3784827 SpeciesFungorum: 489260

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