Pertusaria jurana var. confluens Erichsen (1935

Oset, Magdalena, 2021, On the identity of some taxa of Pertusaria (lichens) described by C. F. E. Erichsen, Phytotaxa 497 (2), pp. 165-171 : 169

Pertusaria jurana var. confluens Erichsen (1935 [ 1936]: 678)

Type:—[Switzerland] SCHWEIZ, Jura, Neuenburg, an Wegulmen bei Buttes , 800 m., 03.10.1928, leg. E. Frey (367) (holotype HBG!). Figure 3 .

The thallus of the type specimen of Pertusaria jurana var. confluens in HBG is quite thick, whitish-grey and sorediate, with a whitish to brownish prothallus. Soralia are grey-whitish, abundant, orbicular to irregular, discrete, and separated from each other (see Sipman 2006) ( Figure 3 ). The presence of variolaric acid has been detected by TLC.

The type specimen Pertusaria jurana var. confluens is morphologically and chemically concordant with Ochrolechia turneri ( Smith 1801: 857) Hasselrot (1945: 130) ( Kukwa 2011) . Therefore it should be treated as a synonym of the latter name ( Turland et al. 2018).

According to Kukwa (2011) there are two other corticolous and sorediate Ochrolechia species with variolaric acid, O. alboflavescens (Wulfen, in Jacquin 1791 [1789]: 111) Zahlbruckner (1927 [1926]: 94) and O. microstictoides Räsänen (1936: 226) , which resemble O. turneri . Ochrolechia albofavescens has often well-separated soralia, like O. turneri , but it contains in addition to variolaric acid also fatty acids, lichesterinic and protolichesterinic acids. Ochrolechia microstictoides is very variable in thallus morphology, but in general its soralia are irregular and often confluent, but can be distinguished by the presence of lichesterinic acid, which is produced in addition to variolaric acid ( Kukwa 2011). Another species which may produce variolaric acid is Varicellaria hemisphaerica ( Flörke 1815: 6) I. Schmitt & Lumbsch in Schmitt et al. (2012: 29). The species is characterized by the pale bluish-grey tinged thallus with an often broad white margin and conspicuous, paler or concolorous, convex soralia. It can be, however, easily differentiated by the presence of lecanoric acid giving C+ carmine red reaction of soralia ( Tønsberg 1992; Chambers et al. 2009; Schmitt et al. 2012).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Holotype of Pertusaria jurana var. confluens in HBG.