{{Short description|Genus of fungi}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Use Oxford spelling|date=June 2025}} {{for|the genus of robber flies|Lecania (fly)}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Lecania fructigena - Flickr - pellaea.jpg | image_caption = ''Lecania fructigena'' | taxon = Lecania | authority = A.Massal. (1853) | type_species = ''Lecania fuscella'' | type_species_authority = (Schaer.) A.Massal. (1853) | synonyms_ref = <ref name="Species Fungorum synonymy"/> | synonyms = *''Bayrhofferia'' {{au|Trevis. (1857)}} *''Dimerospora'' {{au|Th.Fr. (1860)}} *''Lecaniella'' {{au|Jatta (1889)}} *''Dyslecanis'' {{au|Clem. (1909)}} *''Adermatis'' {{au|Clem. (1909)}} *''Lecaniomyces'' {{au|E.A.Thomas (1939)}} *''Oxnerella'' {{au|S.Y.Kondr., Lőkös & Hur (2014)}} }}
'''''Lecania''''' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Ramalinaceae.<ref name="Wijayawardene et al. 2020"/> ''Lecania'' is widely distributed, especially in temperate regions, and contains about 65 species.<ref name=Kirk2008/> These lichens form thin, crusty growths on various surfaces and produce small disc-shaped fruiting bodies that are typically brown to black in colour. Most species reproduce both sexually through spores and asexually through tiny reproductive structures, allowing them to spread effectively in their environments.
==Taxonomy==
The genus was circumscribed by Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo in 1853. He assigned ''Lecania fuscella'' as the type species.<ref name="Massalongo 1853"/>
==Description==
''Lecania'' forms a crustose thallus—that is, a thin, paint-like growth tightly attached to the substrate. Depending on the species, this crust may be only a fraction of a millimetre thick or develop into a more robust layer that cracks into tiny plates ({{lichengloss|areoles}}) or wart-like bumps. In a few taxa the surface becomes minutely lobed or covered with powdery reproductive tissues such as soralia or tiny grain-like propagules ({{lichengloss|blastidia}}, {{lichengloss|goniocysts}}) that help the lichen spread vegetatively. Colours range from grey-white and pale yellow to deep brown-black; many specimens acquire a frost-like coating of minute crystals called {{lichengloss|pruina}}, and some have a dead, transparent {{lichengloss|epinecral}} film that gives a slightly glazed look. The upper {{lichengloss|cortex}} is built of tightly packed fungal cells, though in some species this layer is so saturated with crystals that its cellular structure is obscured. The photosynthetic partner is always a single-celled green alga of the {{lichengloss|chlorococcoid}} type, which nestles within the medulla just beneath the cortex.<ref name="Cannon et al. 2023"/>
The sexual fruiting bodies are tiny, stalk-less {{lichengloss|discs}} (apothecia) that appear flat when young but often bulge into low domes with age. Measuring roughly 0.4–0.6 mm across (occasionally up to 1 mm), these discs vary in colour from pale brown through orange to almost black and may also carry a dusting of pruina. They are usually rimmed by a thin band of thallus tissue, though this margin can erode in older specimens. Viewed in section, the hymenium (the fertile layer) is colourless but turns blue when stained with iodine. Slender paraphyses thread through the hymenium; their tips often swell or darken, giving a mottled, "piebald" appearance when the disc is wetted. Each ascus ordinarily houses eight colourless ascospores (occasionally up to sixteen) that are one- to three-septate, though some species may have spores with as many as seven internal walls. Spores are thin-walled, sausage- to spindle-shaped, and longer examples can curve gently. Asexual reproduction is common on bark-dwelling species: flask-shaped pycnidia produce tiny, curved conidia.<ref name="Cannon et al. 2023"/>
Most ''Lecania'' species lack distinctive secondary metabolites, but a few contain the lichen substance atranorin or various unidentified terpenes. Pigments within the apothecia sometimes give positive colour reactions with standard chemical spot tests (K or N).<ref name="Cannon et al. 2023"/>
==Species== {{As of|2025|June}}, Species Fungorum (in the Catalogue of Life) accepts 65 species of ''Lecania''.<ref name="CoL_BW9M7"/> thumb|right|''Lecania croatica'' thumb|right|''Lecania erysibe'' thumb|right|''Lecania naegelii'' *''Lecania arizonica'' {{au|B.D.Ryan & van den Boom (2004)}} *''Lecania atrynioides'' {{au|M.Knowles (1913)}}<ref name="Knowles 1913"/> *''Lecania azorica'' {{au|van den Boom (2016)}}<ref name="van den Boom 2016"/> *''Lecania baeomma'' {{au|(Nyl.) P.James & J.R.Laundon (1980)}} *''Lecania belgica'' {{au|van den Boom & Reese Næsb. (2007)}}<ref name="Reese Næsborg & van den Boom 2016"/> *''Lecania brattiae'' {{au|B.D.Ryan & van den Boom (2004)}} *''Lecania caloplacicola'' {{au|B.D.Ryan & van den Boom (2004)}} *''Lecania chalcophila'' {{au|B.D.Ryan & van den Boom (2004)}} *''Lecania chirisanensis'' {{au|S.Y.Kondr., Lőkös & Hur (2015)}}<ref name="Kondratyuk et al. 2015"/> *''Lecania chlaronoides'' {{au|Müll.Arg. (1895)}}<ref name="Müller 1895"/> *''Lecania circumpallescens'' {{au|(Nyl.) Kotlov (2004)}} *''Lecania coeruleorubella'' {{au|(Mudd) M.Mayrhofer (1988)}} *''Lecania coerulescens'' {{au|Mudd (1861)}} *''Lecania coreana'' {{au|S.Y.Kondr., Lőkös & Hur (2013)}}<ref name="Kondratyuk et al. 2013"/> *''Lecania croatica'' {{au|(Zahlbr.) Kotlov (2004)}} *''Lecania cuprea'' {{au|(A.Massal.) van den Boom & Coppins (1992)}} *''Lecania cyrtella'' {{au|(Ach.) Th.Fr. (1871)}} *''Lecania cyrtellina'' {{au|(Nyl.) Zahlbr. (1871)}} *''Lecania dubitans'' {{au|(Nyl.) A.L.Sm. (1918)}} *''Lecania erysibe'' {{au|(Ach.) Mudd (1861)}} *''Lecania euphorbiae'' {{au|van den Boom & Etayo (2017)}}<ref name="Van den Boom & Etayo 2017"/> *''Lecania fabacea'' {{au|(Müll.Arg.) Müll.Arg. (1895)}} *''Lecania franciscana'' {{au|(Tuck.) K.Knudsen & Lendemer (2007)}} *''Lecania fructigena'' {{au|Zahlbr. (1914)}} *''Lecania fuscella'' {{au|(Schaer.) A.Massal. (1853)}} *''Lecania fuscelloides'' {{au|B.D.Ryan & van den Boom (2004)}} *''Lecania glauca'' {{au|Øvstedal & Søchting (2004)}} *''Lecania graminum'' {{au|(Vain.) J.Gerasimova & S.Ekma (2017)}} *''Lecania granulata'' {{au|Coppins & Fryday (2012)}}<ref name="Fryday & Coppins 2012"/> *''Lecania heardensis'' {{au|C.W.Dodge (1948)}}<ref name="Dodge 1948"/> *''Lecania hutchinsiae'' {{au|(Nyl.) A.L.Sm. (1918)}} *''Lecania hydrophobica'' {{au|T.Sprib. & Fryday (2020)}}<ref name="Spribille et al. 2020"/> *''Lecania inundata'' {{au|(Hepp ex Körb.) M.Mayrhofer (1987)}} *''Lecania johnstonii'' {{au|C.W.Dodge (1948)}}<ref name="Dodge 1948"/> *''Lecania juniperi'' {{au|van den Boom (2012)}}<ref name="van den Boom & Girault 2012"/> *''Lecania leprosa'' {{au|Reese Næsb. & Vondrák (2008)}} *''Lecania madida'' {{au|Reese Næsb. & Björk (2008)}} *''Lecania makarevicziae'' {{au|Moniri, S.Y.Kondr. & van den Boom (2016)}} *''Lecania maritima'' {{au|Kantvilas & van den Boom (2015)}} *''Lecania molliuscula'' {{au|Müll.Arg. (1895)}} *''Lecania muelleriana'' {{au|Zahlbr. (1928)}} *''Lecania naegelii'' {{au|(Hepp) Diederich & van den Boom (1994)}} *''Lecania nigra'' {{au|van den Boom & Ertz (2012)}}<ref name="van den Boom & Girault 2012"/> *''Lecania nylanderiana'' {{au|A.Massal. (1856)}} *''Lecania olivacella'' {{au|(Nyl.) Zahlbr. (1928)}} *''Lecania pacifica'' {{au|Zahlbr. ex B.D.Ryan & van den Boom (2004)}} *''Lecania poeltii'' {{au|van den Boom, Alonso & Egea (1996)}}<ref name="van den Boom et al. 1996"/> *''Lecania polycarpa'' {{au|(Müll.Arg.) Kantvilas & van den Boom (2015)}} *''Lecania polycycla'' {{au|(Anzi) Lettau (1912)}} *''Lecania rabenhorstii'' {{au|(Hepp) Arnold (1884)}} *''Lecania rinodinoides'' {{au|S.Y.Kondr., Lőkös & Hur (2013)}} *''Lecania ryaniana'' {{au|van den Boom (2004)}} *''Lecania sanguinolenta'' {{au|(Stirt.) Zahlbr. (1928)}} *''Lecania sessilisoraliata'' {{au|Yazıcı & Aptroot (2017)}}<ref name="Aptroot & Yazıcı 2017"/> *''Lecania sipmanii'' {{au|van den Boom & Zedda (2000)}} *''Lecania sordida'' {{au|Reese Næsb. (2008)}} *''Lecania spadicea'' {{au|(Flot.) Zahlbr. (1915)}} *''Lecania suavis'' {{au|(Müll.Arg.) Mig. (1926)}} *''Lecania subfuscula'' {{au|(Nyl.) S.Ekman (1996)}} *''Lecania sylvestris'' {{au|(Arnold) Arnold (1884)}} *''Lecania triseptatoides'' {{au|van den Boom & Moniri (2018)}} *''Lecania turicensis'' {{au|(Hepp) Müll.Arg. (1862)}} *''Lecania vermispora'' {{au|Fryday (2019)}}<ref name="Fryday 2019"/> – Falkland Islands
==References== {{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="Aptroot & Yazıcı 2017">{{cite journal |last1=Aptroot |first1=André |last2=Yazıcı |first2=Kenan |title=''Lecania sessilisoraliata'', a new sorediate lichen species from limestone in Turkey |journal=Phytotaxa |volume=328 |issue=3 |year=2017 |doi=10.11646/phytotaxa.328.3.9 |pages=298–300 |bibcode=2017Phytx.328..298A |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321195488}}</ref>
<ref name="Cannon et al. 2023">{{cite book |last1=Cannon |first1=P. |last2=Ekman |first2=S. |last3=Kistenich |first3=S. |last4=LaGreca |first4=S. |last5=Printzen |first5=C. |last6=Timdal |first6=E. |last7=Aptroot |first7=A. |last8=Coppins |first8=B. |last9=Fletcher |first9=A. |last10=Sanderson |first10=N. |last11=Simkin |first11=J. |year=2023 |title=Lecanorales: Ramalinaceae [revision 1], including the genera ''Bacidia'', ''Bacidina'', ''Bellicidia'', ''Biatora'', ''Bibbya'', ''Bilimbia'', ''Cliostomum'', ''Kiliasia'', ''Lecania'', ''Megalaria'', ''Mycobilimbia'', ''Phyllopsora'', ''Ramalina'', ''Scutula'', ''Thalloidima'', ''Toninia'', ''Toniniopsis'' and ''Tylothallia'' |series=Revisions of British and Irish Lichens |volume=35 |pages=36–37 |url=https://britishlichensociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/Ramalinaceae%20rev%201a_0.pdf}} {{OA}}</ref>
<ref name="CoL_BW9M7">{{Catalogue of Life |id=BW9M7 |title=''Lecania'' |access-date=29 June 2025}}</ref>
<ref name="Dodge 1948">{{cite journal |last=Dodge |first=C.W. |year=1948 |title=Lichens and lichen parasites |journal=British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition Scientific Reports |series=B |volume=7 |pages=1–276}}</ref>
<ref name="Fryday & Coppins 2012">{{cite journal |last1=Fryday |first1=Alan M. |last2=Coppins |first2=Brian J. |title=New taxa, reports, and names of lichenized and lichenicolous fungi, mainly from the Scottish Highlands |journal=The Lichenologist |volume=44 |issue=6 |year=2012 |doi=10.1017/S0024282912000369 |pages=723–737|bibcode=2012ThLic..44..723F }}</ref>
<ref name="Fryday 2019">{{cite journal |last1=Fryday |first1=Alan M. |year=2019 |title=Eleven new species of crustose lichenized fungi from the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) |journal=The Lichenologist |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=235–267 |doi=10.1017/S0024282919000185|bibcode=2019ThLic..51..235F |s2cid=196649792 }}</ref>
<ref name=Kirk2008>{{cite book |vauthors=Kirk PM, Cannon PF, Minter DW, Stalpers JA |title=Dictionary of the Fungi |edition=10th |publisher=CAB International |location=Wallingford, UK |year=2008 |page=364 |isbn=978-0-85199-826-8}}</ref>
<ref name="Knowles 1913">{{cite journal |last=Knowles |first=M.C. |year=1913 |title=The maritime and marine lichens of Howth |journal=Scientific Proceedings of the Royal Dublin Society |volume=14 |pages=79–143 [130]}}</ref>
<ref name="Kondratyuk et al. 2013">{{cite journal |last1=Kondratyuk |first1=S. |last2=Lőkös |first2=L. |last3=Tschabanenko |first3=S. |last4=Haji Moniri |first4=M. |last5=Farkas |first5=E. |last6=Wang |first6=X. |last7=Oh |first7=S.-O. |last8=Hur |first8=J.-S. |title=New and noteworthy lichen-forming and lichenicolous fungi |journal=Acta Botanica Hungarica |volume=55 |issue=3–4 |year=2013 |pages=275–349 [289] |doi=10.1556/ABot.55.2013.3-4.9}}</ref>
<ref name="Kondratyuk et al. 2015">{{cite journal |last1=Kondratyuk |first1=S.Y. |last2=Lőkös |first2=L. |last3=Farkas |first3=E. |last4=Oh |first4=S.-O. |last5=Hur |first5=J.-S. |title=New and noteworthy lichen-forming and lichenicolous fungi 3 |journal=Acta Botanica Hungarica |volume=57 |issue=3–4 |year=2015 |pages=345–382 |doi=10.1556/034.57.2015.3-4.7 |url=https://real.mtak.hu/36990/1/034.57.2015.3-4.7.pdf}}</ref>
<ref name="Massalongo 1853">{{cite book |last=Massalongo |first=A. |year=1853 |title=Alcuni generi di licheni nuovamente limitati e descritti |trans-title=Some genera of lichens newly limited and described |location=Italy, Verona |publisher= Antonelli |pages=1–44 |language=it}}</ref>
<ref name="Müller 1895">{{cite journal |last=Müller |first=J. |year=1895 |title=Lecanoreae et Lecideae australienses novae |journal=Bulletin de l'Herbier Boissier |volume=3 |pages=632–642 |language=la}}</ref>
<ref name="Reese Næsborg & van den Boom 2016">{{cite journal |last1=Reese Næsborg |first1=Rikke |last2=Van Den Boom |first2=Pieter P.G. |title=''Lecania belgica'' van den Boom & Reese Næsborg, a new saxicolous lichen species from western Europe |journal=The Lichenologist |volume=39 |issue=6 |year=2007 |doi=10.1017/S0024282907007244 |pages=499–503 |bibcode=2007ThLic..39..499R |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/224877037}}</ref>
<ref name="Species Fungorum synonymy">{{cite web |title=Synonymy. Current Name: ''Lecania'' A. Massal., Alcuni Gen. Lich.: 12 (1853) |url=https://www.speciesfungorum.org/Names/SynSpecies.asp?RecordID=2678 |publisher=Species Fungorum |access-date=29 June 2025}}</ref>
<ref name="Spribille et al. 2020">{{cite journal |last1=Spribille |first1=Toby |last2=Fryday |first2=Alan M. |last3=Pérez-Ortega |first3=Sergio |last4=Svensson |first4=Måns |last5=Tønsberg |first5=Tor |last6=Ekman |first6=Stefan |last7=Holien |first7=Håkon |last8=Resl |first8=Philipp |last9=Schneider |first9=Kevin |last10=Stabentheiner |first10=Edith |last11=Thüs |first11=Holger |last12=Vondrák |first12=Jan |last13=Sharman |first13=Lewis |year=2020 |title=Lichens and associated fungi from Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska |journal=The Lichenologist |volume=52 |issue=2 |pages=61–181 |doi=10.1017/S0024282920000079 |doi-access=free |pmid=32788812 |pmc=7398404|bibcode=2020ThLic..52...61S }}</ref>
<ref name="van den Boom et al. 1996">{{cite journal |last1=van den Boom |first1=P.P.G. |last2=Alonso |first2=F.L. |last3=Egea |first3=J.M. |title=''Lecania poeltii'', a new lichen species from Portugal and northern Africa |journal=The Lichenologist |volume=28 |issue=5 |year=1996 |doi=10.1006/lich.1996.0037 |pages=395–399|bibcode=1996ThLic..28..395V }}</ref>
<ref name="van den Boom & Girault 2012">{{cite journal |last1=van den Boom |first1=P.P.G. |last2=Girault |first2=M. |year=2012 |title=Checklist and three new species of lichens and lichenicolous fungi of the Algarve (Portugal) |journal=Sydowia |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=149–208 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265737228}}</ref>
<ref name="van den Boom 2016">{{cite journal |last=van den Boom |first=P.P.G. |title=Lichens and lichenicolous fungi of the Azores (Portugal), collected on São Miguel and Terceira with the descriptions of seven new species |journal=Acta Botanica Hungarica |volume=58 |issue=1–2 |year=2016 |doi=10.1556/034.58.2016.1-2.11 |doi-access=free |pages=199–222}}</ref>
<ref name="Van den Boom & Etayo 2017">{{cite journal |last1=Van den Boom |first1=P.P.G. |last2=Eyayo |first2=J. |year=2017 |title=Further interesting lichens and lichenicolous fungi from Fuerteventura, Canary Islands (Spain), with three new species and notes on ''Mixtoconidium'' |website=Ascomycete.org |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=124–134}}</ref>
<ref name="Wijayawardene et al. 2020">{{cite journal |display-authors=6 |last1=Wijayawardene |first1=Nalin |last2=Hyde |first2=Kevin |first3=Laith Khalil Tawfeeq |last3=Al-Ani |last4=Somayeh |first4=Dolatabadi |last5=Stadler |first5=Marc |last6=Haelewaters |first6=Danny |last7=Tsurykau |first7=Andrei |last8=Mesic |first8=Armin |last9=Navathe |first9=Sudhir |last10=Papp |first10=Viktor |last11=Oliveira Fiuza |first11=Patrícia |last12=Vázquez |first12=Víctor |last13=Gautam |first13=Ajay |last14=Becerra |first14=Alejandra G. |last15=Ekanayaka |first15=Anusha |last16=K. C. |first16=Rajeshkumar |last17=Bezerra |first17=Jadson |last18=Matočec |first18=Neven |last19=Maharachchikumbura |first19=Sajeewa |last20=Suetrong |first20=Satinee |year=2020 |title=Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa |journal=Mycosphere |volume=11 |pages=1060–1456 |doi=10.5943/mycosphere/11/1/8 |doi-access=free|hdl=11336/151990 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
}}
{{Taxonbar |from1=Q10555463 |from2=Q105495782 |from3=Q39465960}}
Category:Ramalinaceae Category:Lichen genera Category:Lecanorales genera Category:Taxa described in 1853 Category:Taxa named by Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo