Protoblastenia violacea Pykälä & Myllys sp. nov.

Fig. 5 C

Diagnosis.

Differs from most Protoblastenia species with violet hypothecium in having a thick hypothecium and from P. westbergii in having less densely occurring apothecia and smaller spores.

Type.

Finland • Enontekiön Lappi, Enontekiö, Porojärvet, Toskalharji, Toskalpahta, fell, dolomite rock outcrop, beneath SW-facing wall, on dolomite pebbles, 800 m a. s. l., 69°11'N, 21°30'E, 4 August 2011, J. Pykälä 43524 (H 9250947 – holotype, GenBank accession number: PV 766713) .

Description.

Thallus white, grey or pale brown, rimose to areolate, areoles 0.15–0.4 mm, ca. 0.01–0.15 mm thick, K-, C-, UV-, algal cells 6–10 μm. Apothecia orange, 0.3–1.0 mm, convex to mainly strongly convex, superficial, high; ca. 20–40 apothecia / cm 2, sometimes forming clusters of smaller apothecia on surface of old apothecia. Epihymenium orange-brown, 12–14 μm thick, K + violet. Hymenium 60–80 μm thick. Hypothecium purple, orange-red to red-violet, ca. 100–280 μm thick. Paraphyses ca. 2–2.5 (– 3) μm thick, apex not thickened to slightly thickened, often branching. Ascospores 0 - septate, (6.3 –) 7.9–9.2 – 10.5 (– 12.7) × (3.7 –) 4.2–4.6 – 5.1 (– 5.6) μm (n = 52).

Habitat and distribution.

The three specimens are known from the calcareous Toskalharji fell (NW Finland), all from dolomite pebbles. Companion species include Farnoldia jurana and Lecidella stigmatea .

Etymology.

The name refers to the violet hypothecium of the species.

Notes.

The species is related to P. pseudoterricola and P. terricola, which have mainly brown apothecia and broader spores. Protoblastenia violacea differs from P. siebenhaariana in having more densely occurring apothecia (only ca. 1–10 apothecia / cm 2 in P. siebenhaariana; Kainz and Rambold (2004)), slightly smaller apothecia and a thinner hymenium. Protoblastenia westbergii has more densely occurring apothecia and larger spores.

Other specimens examined.

Finland • Enontekiön Lappi, Enontekiö, Porojärvet, Toskalharji, Toskalpahta, fell, SW-slope, on dolomite pebbles, 765 m a. s. l., 69°11'N, 21°29'E, 1. 8. 2011, J. Pykälä 43015 (H) ; • Enontekiö, Porojärvet, Toskalharji, 1.2 km NE of Toskaljärvi, fell, SW-slope, gentle E-slope, Dryas heath, on dolomite pebbles, 875 m a. s. l., 69°11'N, 21°30'E, 5. 8. 2011, J. Pykälä 43605 (H) .