# Inoderma nipponicum

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{{Short description|Species of lichen}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2025}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date= November 2015}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = 
| image_caption =
| taxon = Inoderma nipponicum
| authority = Frisch, Y.Ohmura & G.Thor (2015)
| mapframe = yes
| mapframe-zoom = 4
| mapframe-coordinates = {{coord|35|16|N|136|15|E}}
| mapframe-caption = [Holotype](/source/Holotype): [Hikone](/source/Hikone)-city, Japan
}}

'''''Inoderma nipponicum''''' is a species of [corticolous](/source/corticolous_lichen) (bark-dwelling) [lichen](/source/lichen) in the family [Arthoniaceae](/source/Arthoniaceae).<ref name="CoL_3PRV2"/> It was formally described in 2015 from specimens collected on the bark of a large tree at [Hikone Castle](/source/Hikone_Castle) on [Honshu](/source/Honshu), Japan. The lichen is characterised by its pale olive-grey crusty [thallus](/source/thallus) and numerous conspicuous dark [pycnidia](/source/pycnidia) (asexual [fruiting bodies](/source/fruiting_bodies)) that protrude from the surface and are dusted with thick white {{lichengloss|pruina}}. It grows on deeply fissured bark of both [deciduous](/source/deciduous) and [conifer](/source/conifer)ous trees in shady to semi-shady locations, and is known from [Hokkaido](/source/Hokkaido) and [Honshu](/source/Honshu) in Japan.

==Taxonomy==

''Inoderma nipponicum'' was [described](/source/species_description) as new to science by Andreas Frisch, Yoshihito Ohmura and Göran Thor in 2015 as part of a revision resurrecting the genus ''[Inoderma](/source/Inoderma)'' for species with elevated, white, frost-like ({{lichengloss|pruinose}}) asexual structures. The [type specimen](/source/type_(biology)) was collected on the [trunk](/source/trunk_(botany)) of a large Japanese bay tree (''[Machilus thunbergii](/source/Machilus_thunbergii)'') at [Hikone Castle](/source/Hikone_Castle), [Honshu](/source/Honshu), Japan (120&nbsp;m elevation), and the name is a straightforward reference to its Japanese origin.<ref name="Frisch et al. 2015"/>

==Description==

The [thallus](/source/thallus) (lichen body) forms pale olive-grey patches that are fissured to fissured-areolate and lack a true outer skin ({{lichengloss|ecorticate}}), giving a matt, faintly felty or scurfy surface; a loose, thin necrotic layer often overlies the {{lichengloss|algal layer}}. The {{lichengloss|photobiont}} is a {{lichengloss|trentepohlioid}} green alga (''[Printzina lagenifera](/source/Printzina_lagenifera)''); cells are mostly 9–19 × 5–14&nbsp;[micrometre](/source/micrometre)s (μm), and [calcium oxalate](/source/calcium_oxalate) crystals were not seen in the type material.<ref name="Frisch et al. 2015"/>

[Sexual](/source/sexual_reproduction) fruiting bodies ([apothecia](/source/apothecia)) were sparse and under-developed in the type material. When present they are small rounded {{lichengloss|discs}}, 0.4–0.6&nbsp;mm in diameter, set level with the thallus and covered in a thin white {{lichengloss|pruina}} (a frost-like powder). Internally the tissues and spore-bearing layer match the ''[Arthonia](/source/Arthonia)''-type; [ascospore](/source/ascospore)s are [hyaline](/source/hyaline), narrowly {{lichengloss|obovate}}, typically 3–4-septate (rarely 2) and measure about 13–16 × 3–4&nbsp;μm.<ref name="Frisch et al. 2015"/>

[Asexual](/source/Asexual_reproduction) fruiting bodies ([pycnidia](/source/pycnidia)) are numerous and conspicuous: dark brown to black cups 0.25–0.50&nbsp;mm across that protrude strongly or sit with a constricted base on the thallus, their rims and shoulders dusted with thick white pruina. The pore is entire to ragged, and the interior shows a bowl-shaped cavity; the wall is strongly {{lichengloss|carbonised}} at the sides. {{lichengloss|Conidiogenous}} cells are 9–11 × 1.5–3.0&nbsp;μm and produce {{lichengloss|bacilliform}} conidia that are often slightly curved, with dimensions averaging around 4.9 × 1.3&nbsp;μm.<ref name="Frisch et al. 2015"/>

Chemically, the species contains [lepraric acid](/source/lepraric_acid). In routine [spot tests](/source/spot_test_(lichen)) the thallus and the white pruina turn K+ (lemon yellow), a diagnostic reaction for this compound, and are C−, KC−, Pd−; the thallus [hypha](/source/hypha)e are I− but KI+ (pale blue).<ref name="Frisch et al. 2015"/>

===Similar species===

Within ''Inoderma'', ''I.&nbsp;nipponicum'' is most similar to ''[I.&nbsp;subabietinum](/source/Inoderma_subabietinum)'' but differs consistently in lacking [confluentic acid](/source/confluentic_acid) and in pycnidial traits: older pycnidia do not develop outwardly reflexed rims and carry a fine, mealy pruina rather than a coarse, granular one; its asexual spores ([conidia](/source/conidia)) are often very slightly curved. Sterile material of ''[I.&nbsp;byssaceum](/source/Inoderma_byssaceum)'' can appear similar, but that species has a K− thallus and pycnidia (no yellow reaction in the standard K test) and conidia that are a bit shorter and not weakly curved.<ref name="Frisch et al. 2015"/>

==Habitat and distribution==

''Inoderma nipponicum'' occurs below about 500&nbsp;m elevation in shady to semi-shady situations. It grows mainly on deeply fissured or flaky bark of both [deciduous](/source/deciduous) and [conifer](/source/conifer)ous hosts, including ''[Acer buergerianum](/source/Acer_buergerianum)'', ''[Machilus thunbergii](/source/Machilus_thunbergii)'', ''[Picea](/source/Picea)'' sp., ''[Pinus densiflora](/source/Pinus_densiflora)'' and ''[Torreya nucifera](/source/Torreya_nucifera)''; a small [saxicolous](/source/saxicolous_lichen) collection was also made on rain-shadowed castle walls at [Hikone](/source/Hikone). The species appears tolerant of drier conditions and of urban air, occurring in parkland as well as in [old-growth forest](/source/old-growth_forest). Confirmed records are from Japan ([Hokkaidō](/source/Hokkaid%C5%8D) and [Honshū](/source/Honsh%C5%AB)).<ref name="Frisch et al. 2015"/>

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name="CoL_3PRV2">{{Catalogue of Life |id=3PRV2 |title=''Inoderma nipponicum'' Frisch, Y. Ohmura & G. Thor |access-date=9 November 2025}}</ref>

<ref name="Frisch et al. 2015">{{cite journal |last1=Frisch |first1=Andreas |last2=Ohmura |first2=Yoshihito |last3=Ertz | first3=Damien |last4=Thor |first4=Göran |title=''Inoderma'' and related genera in Arthoniaceae with elevated white pruinose pycnidia or sporodochia |journal=The Lichenologist |volume=47 |issue=4 |year=2015 |doi=10.1017/s0024282915000201 |pages=233–256}}</ref>

}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q136762177}}

Category:Arthoniaceae
Category:Lichen species
Category:Lichens described in 2015
Category:Lichens of Japan
Category:Taxa named by Andreas Frisch
Category:Taxa named by Göran Thor

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