{{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 yahriae | authority = [[W.R.Buck]] & [[Sérus.]] (2000) }}
'''''Gyalectidium yahriae''''' is an uncommon species of [[crustose lichen]] in the family [[Gomphillaceae]].<ref name="CoL"/> It occurs in [[Florida]] and [[Papua New Guinea]], recorded [[corticolous lichen|growing on bark]] in the former location and on both bark and [[lignicolous lichen|on wood]] in the latter.
==Taxonomy== The lichen was [[species description|formally described]] as a new species in 2000 by William Buck and [[Emmanuël Sérusiaux]]. The [[type (biology)|type specimen]] was collected by the first author from [[Duette Preserve]] in [[Manatee County, Florida]], where it was found growing on [[oak]] twigs in sandhill [[scrub oak]]. Later examination by the second author revealed that it was the same species previously collected by [[André Aptroot]] in a [[montane]] forest in Papua New Guinea; this material was collected by Aptroot on decorticated (bark-free) wood. The generic name honours lichenologist [[Rebecca Yahr]], who "very kindly returned to the [[Type (biology)#type locality|type locality]] to collect further material of this new species".<ref name="Buck & Sérusiaux 2000"/>
==Description== The lichen forms small, smooth, greenish rounded patches, typically usually {{convert|0.4|–|0.6|cm|in|abbr=on}} in diameter, with a whitish [[prothallus#In lichens|prothallus]]. The species is characterized by {{lichengloss|hyphophores}} that are made of a circle of triangular lobes; additionally, the lichen has masses of {{lichengloss|moniliform}} hyphae that make long {{lichengloss|cilia}} on their outer cells.<ref name="Buck & Sérusiaux 2000"/> The hyphophores have been described as resembling "flower vases with a {{lichengloss|dentate}} edge".<ref name="Ferraro et al. 2001"/> The lichen is sterile and so does not produce any [[apothecia]]. The [[photobiont]] partner is probably a member of [[Chlorococcaceae]], a family of [[green algae]].<ref name="Buck & Sérusiaux 2000"/>
==Classification== The lack of ascocarps means that the generic placement of this species cannot be made with certainty, but the authors chose ''[[Gyalectidium]]'' because of the similarity of its hyphophores with other members of that genus, and because of the intermingling of algae with the moniliform hyphae. They acknowledge, however, that a new genus may need to be created for the [[taxon]] after further studies are conducted.<ref name="Buck & Sérusiaux 2000"/> ''Gyalectidium yahriae'' is one of the few corticolous species in a genus that contains largely [[foliicolous lichen]]s. A year later, in their world [[monograph]] of ''Gyalectidium'', Ferraro and colleagues proposed the [[monotypic]] [[section (biology)|section]] ''Goniolectidium'' and series ''Yahriae'' to contain the species.<ref name="Ferraro et al. 2001"/>
==References== {{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="CoL">{{Catalogue of Life |id=3HNPN |title=''Gyalectidium yahriae'' W.R. Buck & Sérus. |access-date=19 November 2022}}</ref>
<ref name="Buck & Sérusiaux 2000">{{cite journal |last1=Buck |first1=William R. |last2=Sérusiaux |first2=Emmanuël |title=''Gyalectidium yahriae'', sp. nov. (Lichenized Ascomycetes, Gomphillaceae) from Florida and Papua New Guinea |journal=The Bryologist |volume=103 |issue=1 |year=2000 |doi=10.1639/0007-2745(2000)103[0134:GYSNLA]2.0.CO;2 |pages=134–138 |url=https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/175233/1/2000%20The%20Bryologist%20103%20%281%29.pdf }}</ref>
<ref name="Ferraro et al. 2001">{{cite journal |last1=Ferraro |first1=Lidia Itati |last2=Lücking |first2=Robert |last3=Sérusiaux |first3=Emmanuël |year=2001 |title=A world monograph of the lichen genus ''Gyalectidiurn'' (Gomphillaceae) |journal=Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=137 |issue=3 |pages=311–345 |doi=10.1006/bojl.2001.0484 |url=https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/175241/1/2001%20Bot%20Jour%20of%20the%20Lichen%20137.pdf}}</ref>
}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q21271057}}
[[Category:Gyalectidium|yahriae]] [[Category:Lichen species]] [[Category:Lichens described in 2000]] [[Category:Taxa named by Emmanuël Sérusiaux]] [[Category:Lichens of the Southeastern United States]] [[Category:Lichens of New Guinea]] [[Category:Taxa named by William Russel Buck]]