# Inoderma applanatum > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Inoderma_applanatum > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Inoderma_applanatum.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inoderma_applanatum > Source revision: 1353396905 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Species of lichen-forming fungus}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2026}} {{Use Australian English|date=January 2026}} {{Speciesbox | image = | image_caption = | taxon = Inoderma applanatum | authority = [Kantvilas](/source/Gintaras_Kantvilas) (2024) | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 4 | mapframe-coordinates = {{coord|40|47|S|145|02|E}} | mapframe-caption = [Type locality](/source/type_locality_(biology)): End of Bolduans Road, [Tasmania](/source/Tasmania) }} '''''Inoderma applanatum''''' is a species of [crustose lichen](/source/crustose_lichen) in the family [Arthoniaceae](/source/Arthoniaceae). It forms thin, whitish-grey patches that can spread over 30 cm across on bark, with broad, flattened, reddish-brown to grey-brown [fruiting bodies](/source/fruiting_bodies) typically 0.5–2 mm wide. The species is known from [Tasmania](/source/Tasmania) and coastal [Victoria](/source/Victoria_(state)), where it grows mainly on the papery bark of swamp paperbark (''[Melaleuca ericifolia](/source/Melaleuca_ericifolia)'') in coastal [lowland](/source/lowland) woodlands. It was described in 2024 as part of the first documentation of the genus ''[Inoderma](/source/Inoderma)'' in Australasia. ==Taxonomy== ''Inoderma applanatum'' was [described](/source/species_description) as a new species by [Gintaras Kantvilas](/source/Gintaras_Kantvilas) in 2024, in a study that documented the genus ''[Inoderma](/source/Inoderma)'' in Australasia for the first time. The [holotype](/source/holotype) was collected in northern [Tasmania](/source/Tasmania) at the end of Bolduans Road, growing on ''[Melaleuca ericifolia](/source/Melaleuca_ericifolia)'' in swampy coastal [woodland](/source/woodland). The [epithet](/source/botanical_name) ''applanatum'' refers to the strongly flattened, closely attached ({{lichengloss|adnate}}) [apothecia](/source/apothecia). The species was diagnosed using a combination of chemistry and microscopic characters, including the presence of the [secondary metabolite](/source/secondary_metabolite) 2'-O-methylperlatolic acid, mostly 2-[septate](/source/septum) (occasionally 3-septate) macrocephalic [ascospore](/source/ascospore)s, and emergent [pycnidia](/source/pycnidia) that can be more or less spherical to cylindrical. Kantvilas considered it most similar to ''[Inoderma platygraphellum](/source/Inoderma_platygraphellum)'', but separated the two by features such as the smoother thallus and the smaller, less septate ascospores in ''I. applanatum''; he also stated that the two occupy different habitats and have not been found growing together. The known range includes Tasmania and Victoria, based in part on [Victorian herbarium](/source/National_Herbarium_of_Victoria) material that matches ''I. applanatum'' despite having been mislabelled in the [herbarium](/source/herbarium) as an unrelated [taxon](/source/taxon) (''[Arthonia nigrorufa](/source/Arthonia_nigrorufa)''). ==Description== The [thallus](/source/thallus) is a thin, whitish-grey crust that spreads as diffuse patches that may exceed 30 cm across. It lacks a distinct outer {{lichengloss|cortex}} and {{lichengloss|prothallus}}, and the [medulla](/source/medulla_(lichenology)) turns pale blue in iodine (KI+); [calcium oxalate](/source/calcium_oxalate) was not detected. The {{lichengloss|photobiont}} cells occur in clumps or short chains. The apothecia (sexual [fruiting bodies](/source/fruiting_bodies)) are broad and flat, typically 0.5–2 mm wide, with a reddish-brown to grey-brown {{lichengloss|disc}}. When young, the disc may have a thin whitish dusting ({{lichengloss|pruina}}) that often wears away with age, and very young apothecia can show a fine, {{lichengloss|byssoid}} rim of white [hypha](/source/hypha)e. Under the microscope, the [ascospore](/source/ascospore)s are {{lichengloss|clavate}}-[ellipsoid](/source/ellipsoid) and mostly 2-septate (occasionally 3-septate), 9–13 × 3.5–5.5 μm, remaining smooth-walled and [hyaline](/source/hyaline) as they mature. The [pycnidia](/source/pycnidia) ([asexual](/source/asexual_reproduction) fruiting bodies) begin immersed but become emergent and sometimes distinctly cylindrical (to about 0.2 mm tall), with a black central opening. The [conidia](/source/conidia) are {{lichengloss|bacilliform}} to ellipsoid, 3.5–6 × 1.5–2 μm. The thallus is chemically characterised by 2'-O-methylperlatolic acid and is K−, C−, P−, with a pale bluish-white UV reaction. ==Habitat and distribution== In Tasmania, ''I. applanatum'' is locally abundant but tied to a specialised coastal [lowland](/source/lowland) habitat. It occurs mainly in swampy ''[Melaleuca ericifolia](/source/Melaleuca_ericifolia)''-dominated woodlands, and also in nearby lowland [eucalypt](/source/eucalypt) woodlands where ''M. ericifolia'' is present. It grows most often on the loose, papery bark of mature ''M. ericifolia'' [trunks](/source/trunk_(botany)), forming extensive pale colonies, but it has also been recorded on rough-barked ''[Acacia melanoxylon](/source/Acacia_melanoxylon)'' and on dead, decorticated eucalypt wood. The species has been recorded from Tasmania (including [King Island](/source/King_Island_(Tasmania))) and from coastal [Victoria](/source/Victoria_(state)) ([Lakes Entrance](/source/Lakes_Entrance)), although the Victorian specimens lack detailed ecological data. The Tasmanian ''[Melaleuca](/source/Melaleuca)'' swamp woodlands where the species is most frequently found have been described as a distinctive, [old-growth](/source/old-growth_forest) coastal vegetation [community](/source/community_(ecology)) that has been heavily cleared or degraded since European settlement. Kantvilas noted that these swamps support a diverse lichen [funga](/source/funga), including several species regarded as potentially rare or highly localised, and reported a suite of associates occurring with ''I. applanatum''. A [lichenicolous fungus](/source/lichenicolous_fungus), ''[Chaenothecopsis brevipes](/source/Chaenothecopsis_brevipes)'', has also been recorded growing on the thallus of ''I. applanatum'' in Tasmania. ==References== {{cite journal |last=Kantvilas |first=G. |year=2024 |title=Tasmanian additions to the genus ''Inoderma'' (Arthoniaceae) |journal=Swainsona |volume=38 |issue=6 |pages=161–170 |url=https://know.ourplants.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/JABG38P161_Kantvilas.pdf}} {{Open access}} {{cite web |title=''Inoderma applanatum'' |url=https://www.mycobank.org/page/Name%20details%20page/611747 |publisher=[MycoBank](/source/MycoBank) |access-date=21 January 2026}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q137842126}} Category:Arthoniaceae Category:Lichen species Category:Lichens described in 2024 Category:Lichens of Australia Category:Taxa named by Gintaras Kantvilas --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Inoderma applanatum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inoderma_applanatum) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inoderma_applanatum?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.