# Gyalectidium membranaceum

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Species of lichen-forming fungus

Gyalectidium membranaceum Scientific classification Kingdom: Fungi Division: Ascomycota Class: Lecanoromycetes Order: Graphidales Family: Gomphillaceae Genus: Gyalectidium Species: G. membranaceum Binomial name Gyalectidium membranaceum Sérusiaux & Lücking (2001)

***Gyalectidium membranaceum*** is a species of [lichen](/source/Lichen)-forming [fungus](/source/Fungus) in the family [Gomphillaceae](/source/Gomphillaceae).[1] It is a tiny, [foliicolous](/source/Foliicolous) (leaf-dwelling) lichen known only from [cloud forest](/source/Cloud_forest) on the island of [La Palma](/source/La_Palma) in the [Canary Islands](/source/Canary_Islands). The species is distinguished by its unusual bluish, membrane-like reproductive structures, and no sexual fruiting bodies have been observed.

## Taxonomy

*Gyalectidium membranaceum* was [described](/source/Species_description) as a new species in 2001 by [Emmanuël Sérusiaux](/source/Emmanu%C3%ABl_S%C3%A9rusiaux) and [Robert Lücking](/source/Robert_L%C3%BCcking). In the original account, it was characterized by its thin, meagre [thallus](/source/Thallus) and by [hyphophores](/source/Glossary_of_lichen_terms#hyphophores) (asexual reproductive structures) reduced to a bluish, membrane-like layer that covers a mass of [conidial](/source/Conidia) spores (diahyphae).[2]

The species was compared with *[Gyalectidium imperfectum](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gyalectidium_imperfectum&action=edit&redlink=1)*, which also has hyphophores reduced to adnate spots. *G. membranaceum* differs by having much thinner, more membrane-like hyphophores and a thallus that is distinctly cracked into small patches ([areolate](/source/Glossary_of_lichen_terms#areolate)) rather than finely warty ([verrucose](/source/Glossary_of_lichen_terms#verrucose)). The authors suggested that the membranaceous layer together with the diahyphal mass functions as a single dispersal unit, since many thalli have strongly scalloped ([crenate](/source/Glossary_of_lichen_terms#crenate)) margins where these structures appear to have been removed as a whole.[2]

## Description

The thallus forms very small, rounded to crenate, rather ill-developed patches about 0.05–0.1 mm in diameter. It is indistinctly areolate, with a whitish, flattened crystalline cluster at the centre surrounded by a thin greenish-grey marginal zone.[2]

The hyphophores are located at the thallus margins but lack the scale-like covering typical of the genus. Instead, each is reduced to a small spot of spore-producing tissue (the diahyphal mass), covered by a thin, pale bluish-grey membrane about 0.07–0.1 mm in diameter. [Apothecia](/source/Apothecia) and [pycnidia](/source/Pycnidia) have not been reported for this species.[2]

## Habitat and distribution

*Gyalectidium membranaceum* is known only from the island of [La Palma](/source/La_Palma) (Canary Islands). The [type locality](/source/Type_locality_(biology)) was described as a remnant of evergreen, subtropical [cloud forest](/source/Cloud_forest), and the species was reported as very rare there, found on only a few leaves.[2]

In that locality it was observed as a pioneer on young leaves of [Lauraceae](/source/Lauraceae), occurring together with *[Gyalectidium colchicum](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gyalectidium_colchicum&action=edit&redlink=1)*.[2]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-CoL_3HNP4_1-0)** ["*Gyalectidium membranaceum* Sérus. & Lücking"](https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/3HNP4). *[Catalogue of Life](/source/Catalogue_of_Life)*. [Species 2000](/source/Species_2000): Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 23 February 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) [***e***](#cite_ref-Ferraro_et_al._2001_2-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Ferraro_et_al._2001_2-5) 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).

Taxon identifiers Gyalectidium membranaceum Wikidata: Q21271021 Wikispecies: Gyalectidium membranaceum CoL: 3HNP4 GBIF: 3419861 IndexFungorum: 489422 MycoBank: 489422 Open Tree of Life: 3784809 SpeciesFungorum: 489422

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