{{Short description|Genus of lichen-forming fungi}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}} {{Use Oxford spelling|date=September 2025}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Lichinella cribellifera 6160711.jpg | image_caption = ''Lichinella cribellifera'' | taxon = Lichinella | authority = Nyl. (1873) | type_species = ''Lichinella stipatula'' | type_species_authority = Nyl. (1872) | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = | synonyms_ref = <ref name="Species Fungorum synonymy"/> | synonyms = *''Gonohymenia'' {{au|J.Steiner (1902)}}<ref name="Steiner 1902"/> *''Rechingeria'' {{au|Servít (1931)}}<ref name="Servít 1931"/> }}
'''''Lichinella''''' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Lichinellaceae. The genus is morphologically diverse, including species that form crusts, small scales, or tiny shrub-like tufts. Its members grow on rock surfaces and in biological soil crusts, mainly in warm-temperate to arid tropical regions worldwide. It was described by William Nylander in 1873, and was placed in the newly erected family Lichinellaceae following a 2024 molecular reclassification of the Lichinomycetes.
==Taxonomy==
The genus was circumscribed in 1872 by the Finnish lichenologist William Nylander, who introduced ''Lichinella'' with ''L. stipatula'' as its type species. In the protologue, he described the new genus as being close to ''Leptogium'' but distinct in having a minute, densely tufted, fruticose thallus with a cellular interior containing comparatively large, bluish-green {{lichengloss|photobiont}} cells, together with terminal {{lichengloss|lecanorine}} apothecia, polysporous asci, and minute colourless conidia borne on slender, mostly simple sterigmata. Nylander also contrasted ''Lichinella'' with ''Leptogium microscopicum'', which he regarded as more delicate and as having smaller cells and conidia.<ref name="Nylander 1873"/>
In a 2024 multilocus molecular phylogenetics-informed reorganization and reclassification of the class Lichinomycetes, ''Lichinella'' was placed in the newly erected family Lichinellaceae together with ''Edwardiella'', ''Gonotichia'' and ''Synalissina''. The authors treat ''Lichinella'' as a medium-sized genus of almost 30 species, and {{lichengloss|diagnosis|diagnose}} the family by thallinocarpous ascomata (fruiting bodies developing within the thallus) and a ''Lichinella''-type ascus (defined as thin walled with distinctly amyloid outer coat with a gelatinous cap). Several names formerly placed in segregate genera have been combined into ''Lichinella'' (e.g. transfers from ''Gonohymenia'' and ''Thallinocarpon''), reflecting the new phylogeny.<ref name="Prieto et al. 2024"/>
==Description== ''Lichinella'' is a morphologically diverse genus that includes crustose, {{lichengloss|squamulose}}-{{lichengloss|peltate}}, {{lichengloss|foliose}}-{{lichengloss|fruticose}}, and dwarf-fruticose species. Its internal structure is similarly variable: crustose and small squamulose forms usually have a more uniform thallus, whereas {{lichengloss|lobate}}, foliose, and fruticose species often have a {{lichengloss|heteromerous}} thallus with a loose to compact central hyphal strand that may be distinctly fountain-like. Despite this variation in overall form, the genus is characterized by a relatively consistent type of fruiting body and ascus. The ascomata are {{lichengloss|thallinocarpous}}, with the hymenium covered by a continuous or discontinuous layer of sterile thallus tissue. The hymenium itself may be continuous, interrupted by sterile tissue, or reduced to a few asci and paraphyses scattered through the upper part of the thallus. The asci are irregular in shape and usually contain 16–32 small ascospores, and the hymenium shows a reddish-brown to wine-red iodine staining reaction before turning blue. No secondary metabolites have been detected in the genus by thin-layer chromatography.<ref name="Prieto et al. 2024"/>
==Habitat and distribution== ''Lichinella'' is a medium-sized genus of nearly 30 species with a worldwide distribution, although it is most diverse in warm-temperate to arid tropical regions. Species typically grow on rock surfaces that are only periodically wetted, and some also occur as components of biological soil crusts.<ref name="Prieto et al. 2024"/>
==Species== thumb|right|''Lichinella iodopulchra''; scale: 500 μm * ''Lichinella algerica'' {{au|(J.Steiner) P.P.Moreno & Egea (1992)}}<ref name="Moreno & Egea 1992"/> * ''Lichinella americana'' {{au|Henssen (1969)}}<ref name="Henssen 1969"/> * ''Lichinella applanata'' {{au|Henssen (1963)}}<ref name="Henssen 1963"/> * ''Lichinella cribellifera'' {{au|(Nyl.) P.P.Moreno & Egea (1992)}}<ref name="Moreno & Egea 1992"/> * ''Lichinella flexa'' {{au|Henssen, Büdel & T.H.Nash (1986)}}<ref name="Henssen et al. 1985"/> * ''Lichinella granulosa'' {{au|M.Schultz (2005)}}<ref name="Schultz 2005"/> * ''Lichinella heppii'' {{au|(Müll.Arg.) P.Clerc & Cl.Roux (2004)}}<ref name="Clerc 2004"/> * ''Lichinella hondoana'' {{au|(Zahlbr.) P.P.Moreno & Egea (1992)}}<ref name="Moreno & Egea 1992"/> * ''Lichinella inflata'' {{au|(Henssen) P.P.Moreno & Egea (1992)}}<ref name="Moreno & Egea 1992"/> * ''Lichinella intermedia'' {{au|Henssen, Büdel & T.H.Nash (1986)}}<ref name="Henssen et al. 1985"/> * ''Lichinella iodopulchra'' {{au|(Couderc ex Croz.) P.Moreno & Egea (1992)}}<ref name="Moreno & Egea 1992"/> * ''Lichinella lojkana'' {{au|Hue (1898)}}<ref name="Hue 1898"/> * ''Lichinella mauritanica'' {{au|(O.L.Lange) P.P.Moreno & Egea (1992)}}<ref name="Moreno & Egea 1992"/> * ''Lichinella melamphylla'' {{au|(Tuck.) Essl. (1995)}}<ref name="Esslinger & Egan 1995"/> * ''Lichinella minnesotensis'' {{au|(Fink) Essl. (1995)}}<ref name="Esslinger & Egan 1995"/> * ''Lichinella myriospora'' {{au|(Zahlbr.) P.P.Moreno & Egea ex M.Schultz (2005)}}<ref name="Schultz 2005"/> * ''Lichinella polyspora'' {{au|(H.Magn.) P.P.Moreno & Egea (1992)}}<ref name="Moreno & Egea 1992"/> * ''Lichinella robusta'' {{au|Henssen (1963)}}<ref name="Henssen 1963"/> * ''Lichinella robustoides'' {{au|Henssen, Büdel & T.H.Nash (1986)}}<ref name="Henssen et al. 1985"/> * ''Lichinella sinaica'' {{au|(Galun & Marton) P.P.Moreno & Egea (1992)}}<ref name="Moreno & Egea 1992"/> * ''Lichinella stipatula'' {{au|Nyl. (1872)}}<ref name="Nylander 1872"/> * ''Lichinella undulata'' {{au|(Henssen) M.Schultz & van den Boom (2007)}}<ref name="Schultz & van den Boom 2007"/>
==References== <references>
<ref name="Clerc 2004">{{cite book |last=Clerc |first=Philippe |year=2004 |title=Les champignons lichénisés de Suisse: catalogue bibliographique complété par des données sur la distribution et l'écologie des espèces |trans-title=The lichenized fungi of Switzerland: a bibliographic catalogue supplemented with data on the distribution and ecology of species |series=Cryptogamica Helvetica |volume=19 |publisher=Bryolich |location=Bussigny, Switzerland |page=292 |language=fr}}</ref>
<ref name="Esslinger & Egan 1995">{{cite journal |last1=Esslinger |first1=Theodore L. |last2=Egan |first2=Robert S. |year=1995 |title=A sixth checklist of the lichen-forming, lichenicolous, and allied fungi of the continental United States and Canada |journal=The Bryologist |volume=98 |issue=4 |pages=467–549 |doi=10.2307/3243586 |jstor=3243586}}</ref>
<ref name="Henssen 1963">{{cite journal |last=Henssen |first=Aino |year=1963 |title=Eine Revision der Flechtenfamilien Lichinaceae und Ephebaceae |trans-title=Revision of the lichen families Lichinaceae and Ephebaceae |journal=Symbolae Botanicae Upsalienses |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=1–123 |language=de}}</ref>
<ref name="Henssen 1969">{{cite journal |last=Henssen |first=Aino |year=1969 |title=Eine neue ''Lichinella''-Art aus Nordamerika (Lichenes) |journal=Nova Hedwigia |volume=15 |pages=543–550 |language=de}}</ref>
<ref name="Henssen et al. 1985">{{cite journal |last1=Henssen |first1=Aino |last2=Büdel |first2=Burkhard |last3=Nash III |first3=Thomas H. |last4=Budel |first4=Burkhard |title=Three new species of ''Lichinella'' described from Mexico |journal=The Bryologist |volume=88 |issue=4 |year=1985 |doi=10.2307/3242664 |pages=285–292 |jstor=3242664}}</ref>
<ref name="Hue 1898">{{cite journal |last=Hue |first=A.-M. |year=1898 |title=Lichenes extra-europaei a pluribus collectoribus ad Museum Parisiense missi |trans-title=Extra-European lichens sent to the Paris Museum by various collectors |journal=Nouvelles Archives du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle |series=3 |volume=10 |pages=213–280 |language=la |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36859864}}</ref>
<ref name="Moreno & Egea 1992">{{cite journal |last1=Moreno |first1=P.P. |last2=Egea |first2=J.M. |year=1992 |title=El género ''Lichinella'' Nyl. en el sureste de España y norte de África |journal=Cryptogamie, Bryologie-Lichénologie |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=237–259 |language=es}}</ref>
<ref name="Nylander 1872">{{cite journal |last=Nylander |first=W. |year=1872 |title=Observata lichenologica in Pyrenaeis orientalibus |journal=Bulletin de la Société linnéenne de Normandie |series=2 |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=256–328 |language=la}}</ref>
<ref name="Nylander 1873">{{cite journal |last=Nylander |first=W. |year=1873 |title=Observata lichenologica in Pyrenaeis orientalibus |trans-title=Lichenological observations in the eastern Pyrenees |journal=Flora (Regensburg) |volume=56 |pages=193–208 |language=la |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/61536}}</ref>
<ref name="Prieto et al. 2024">{{cite journal |last1=Prieto |first1=M. |last2=Wedin |first2=M. |last3=Schultz |first3=M. |year=2024 |title=Phylogeny, evolution and a re-classification of the Lichinomycetes |journal=Studies in Mycology |volume=109 |pages=595–655 |doi=10.3114/sim.2024.109.09 |pmid=39717657 |pmc=11663425}}</ref>
<ref name="Schultz 2005">{{cite journal |last=Schultz |first=Matthias |title=An overview of ''Lichinella'' in the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico, and the new species ''Lichinella granulosa'' |journal=The Bryologist |volume=108 |issue=4 |year=2005 |doi=10.1639/0007-2745(2005)108[0567:aoolit]2.0.co;2 |pages=567–590}}</ref>
<ref name="Schultz & van den Boom 2007">{{cite journal |last1=Schultz |first1=Matthias |last2=van den Boom |first2=Pieter P.G. |year=2007 |title=Notes on cyanobacterial lichens (mostly Lichinales, Ascomycota) of the Canary Islands |journal=Nova Hedwigia |volume=84 |issue=1–2 |pages=113–133 |doi=10.1127/0029-5035/2007/0084-0113}}</ref>
<ref name="Servít 1931">{{cite journal |last=Servít |first=M. |year=1931 |title=Bearbeitung der von K.H. Rechinger (fil.) im Jahre 1927 auf den Ägäischen Inseln gesammelten Flechten |trans-title=Study of the lichens collected by K.H. Rechinger (fil.) on the Aegean Islands in 1927 |journal=Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien |volume=46 |pages=77-90 |language=de}}</ref>
<ref name="Species Fungorum synonymy">{{cite web |title=Synonymy. Current Name: ''Lichinella'' Nyl., Bull. Soc. linn. Normandie, sér. 2 6(2): 301 (1872) |url=http://www.speciesfungorum.org/Names/SynSpecies.asp?RecordID=2858 |publisher=Species Fungorum |work=MycoBank |accessdate=3 November 2022}}</ref>
<ref name="Steiner 1902">{{cite journal |last=Steiner |first=J. |title=Zweiter Beitrag zur Flechtenflora Algiers |trans-title=Second contribution to the lichen flora of Algiers |language=de |journal=Verhandlungen der Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien |year=1902 |volume=52 |pages=469–487 [486] |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/13333033}}</ref>
</references>
{{Taxonbar |from1=Q10561260 |from2=Q10507469}}
Category:Lichinomycetes Category:Lichen genera Category:Lichinomycetes genera Category:Taxa named by William Nylander (botanist) Category:Taxa described in 1873