# Gyrographa

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***Gyrographa*** is a [genus](/source/Genus) of [lichen](/source/Lichen)-forming [fungi](/source/Fungi) in the family [Roccellaceae](/source/Roccellaceae).[1] The genus was [circumscribed](/source/Circumscription_(taxonomy)) in 2014 by Damien Ernst and Anders Tehler, with *Gyrographa gyrocarpa* assigned as the [type species](/source/Type_species). This lichen, originally [described](/source/Species_description) by [Julius von Flotow](/source/Julius_von_Flotow) in 1825, was first placed in the genus *[Opegrapha](/source/Opegrapha)*. Species in the genus have a [crustose](/source/Crustose_lichen) thallus lacking a [cortex](/source/Cortex_(botany)), and a dark brown [prothallus](/source/Prothallus#In_lichens). The [photobiont](/source/Photobiont) partner is [trentepholioid](/source/Trentepohlia_(alga)). The is thick and carbonised, and the [ascospores](/source/Ascospore) lack a gelatinous sheath; these characteristics distinguish it from *[Opegrapha](/source/Opegrapha)* species. The genus name alludes to the [ascomata](/source/Ascomata) of the type species.[2]

## Taxonomy

*Gyrographa* was erected in 2014 by Damien Ertz and Anders Tehler during a broad two-[locus](/source/Genetic_locus) revision of the [Roccellaceae](/source/Roccellaceae) that sought to bring the family's genera into line with [molecular](/source/Molecular_phylogenetics) phylogeny. [DNA sequences](/source/DNA_sequence) from the nuclear large-subunit ribosomal RNA and RPB2 genes showed that several erstwhile *Opegrapha* species actually form three separate [lineages](/source/Lineage_(evolution)) inside the Roccellaceae; to keep each lineage [monophyletic](/source/Monophyletic) the authors described the new genera *Gyrographa*, *[Vigneronia](/source/Vigneronia)*, and *[Pseudoschismatomma](/source/Pseudoschismatomma)*. Within the [family tree](/source/Phylogenetic_tree) *Gyrographa* groups tightly with *[Psoronactis](/source/Psoronactis)* and is separated from other roccellacean clades by branches that enjoy maximal statistical support. This placement confirms that the genus belongs to the order [Arthoniales](/source/Arthoniales), class [Arthoniomycetes](/source/Arthoniomycetes), rather than the [Opegraphaceae](/source/Opegraphaceae) where its species had long been listed on [morphological](/source/Morphology_(biology)) grounds.[2]

The circumscription initially encompassed two [saxicolous lichens](/source/Saxicolous_lichen): the [type species](/source/Type_species) *G. gyrocarpa* and *G. saxigena*. They were transferred from *Opegrapha* because they combine three traits that are uncommon elsewhere in the Roccellaceae—black knot-like or short lirellate ascomata with a thick carbonised hypothecium, a persistent black margin, and colourless three-septate spores that lack the gelatinous envelope typical of most *Opegrapha* species. The generic name refers to the faintly wrinkled () outline of the fruit bodies in the [type](/source/Type_(biology)) collection. Subsequent collections and sequence data have upheld the genus as a coherent, well-supported lineage within the Roccellaceae, providing a clear framework for recognising any additional species that share its distinctive combination of DNA signature and morphological characters.[2]

## Description

The [thallus](/source/Thallus) forms a crust that is tightly bonded to its [substrate](/source/Substrate_(biology)) (crustose) and lacks a true protective skin (non-). It ranges in colour from grey-cream through dark or purplish brown and can appear faintly pink when freshly collected. Although it may reach up to 2 mm thick, it is usually much thinner. Powdery reproductive patches ([soralia](/source/Soralia)) are sometimes present; these begin as discrete round spots 0.3–1.5 mm across but soon merge into broad dull yellow-grey to pinkish swathes, the pink tinge fading in the [herbarium](/source/Herbarium). A dark-brown fibrous often fringes the thallus, and the [photosynthetic](/source/Photosynthesis) partner is a filamentous orange alga of the genus *[Trentepohlia](/source/Trentepohlia_(alga))*.[2]

The fruit bodies (ascomata) of *Gyrographa* are usually , appearing either knot-like clusters with a wrinkled () outline or short slit-shaped . They are black, never dusted with a pale bloom, and keep a conspicuous black margin even when the is narrowly exposed. The rim (excipulum) is dark brown and turns olive with potassium hydroxide (K+ olivaceous), while the tissue beneath the spore layer () is exceptionally thick and jet-black (). The spore-bearing layer ([hymenium](/source/Hymenium)) yields a reddish [staining](/source/Staining) reaction with [iodine](/source/Iodine) (I+ red). Inside, slender, branched filaments () weave between 8-spored, club-shaped [asci](/source/Ascus). Spores are colourless, 3-septate, 15–25 × 4–6 [μm](/source/%CE%9Cm), straight, and lack the gelatinous envelope seen in many relatives. Minute flask-like [pycnidia](/source/Pycnidia) generate rod-shaped [conidia](/source/Conidia) measuring 4–7 × 0.3–0.8 μm. Standard [spot tests](/source/Spot_test_(lichen)) show the thallus either unreactive (C−) or briefly red with bleach (C+), K−, and KC+ (red); [thin-layer chromatography](/source/Thin-layer_chromatography) detects [gyrophoric](/source/Gyrophoric_acid) and/or [schizopeltic acids](/source/Schizopeltic_acid), though some specimens contain no [secondary metabolites](/source/Secondary_metabolite). These combined traits—especially the carbonised hypothecium and unsheathed spores—separate *Gyrographa* from superficially similar former *Opegrapha* species.[2]

## Species

As of June 2025, [Species Fungorum](/source/Species_Fungorum) (via the [Catalogue of Life](/source/Catalogue_of_Life)) accepts four species of *Gyrographa*:[3]

- *[Gyrographa fecunda](/source/Gyrographa_fecunda)* [4] – Australia
- *[Gyrographa gyrocarpa](/source/Gyrographa_gyrocarpa)* [2]
- *[Gyrographa nigrofusca](/source/Gyrographa_nigrofusca)* [5] – India
- *[Gyrographa saxigena](/source/Gyrographa_saxigena)* [2]

## References

1. Wijayawardene, N.N.; Hyde, K.D.; Dai, D.Q.; Sánchez-García, M.; Goto, B.T.; Saxena, R.K. et al. (2022). ["Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa – 2021"](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358798332). *Mycosphere*. **13** (1): 53–453 [90]. [doi:10.5943/mycosphere/13/1/2](https://doi.org/10.5943/mycosphere/13/1/2). [hdl:10481/76378](https://hdl.handle.net/10481/76378)

1. Ertz, Damien; Tehler, Anders; Irestedt, Martin; Frisch, Andreas; Thor, Göran; van den Boom, Pieter (2014). "A large-scale phylogenetic revision of Roccellaceae (Arthoniales) reveals eight new genera". *Fungal Diversity*. **70** (1): 31–53. [doi:10.1007/s13225-014-0286-5](https://doi.org/10.1007/s13225-014-0286-5)

1. McCarthy, P.M. (2022). "*Gyrographa fecunda* (Roccellaceae), a new saxicolous lichen from New South Wales, Australia". *Australasian Lichenology*. **91**: 56–59.

1. Jagadeesh Ram, T.A.M. (2016). ["Additional new species in Roccellaceae s.l. from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India"](http://publication.plazi.org/id/FFE4E44CA04CFF81FFEAAE7A6A61FFA8). *Phytotaxa*. **246** (4): 281–286. [Bibcode:2016Phytx.246..281J](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2016Phytx.246..281J). [doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.246.4.3](https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.246.4.3)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Gyrographa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrographa) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrographa?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.