Cratiria vioxanthina (Elix) Kalb & Elix

Kalb, Klaus, Buaruang, Kawinnat, Mongkolsuk, Pachara & Boonpragob, Kansri, 2012, New or otherwise interesting Lichens. VI, including a lichenicolous fungus, Phytotaxa 42, pp. 35-47 : 38-39

Cratiria vioxanthina (Elix) Kalb & Elix comb. nov. MycoBank MB 564176

Basionym: Buellia vioxanthina Elix, Australasian Lichenology 64: 32 (2009).

This saxicolous species was recently described by Elix (2009). It is characterized by a whitish to grey areolate thallus, sessile apothecia with a rather thick margin, a hymenium which is inspersed by minute oil droplets, especially in the lower part and an exciple which is dark brown at the inner and peripheral part but pale brown in the central part, mature ascospores with a distinctly rugulate (warty) outer wall and the presence of norstictic acid (major), connorstictic acid (minor), atranorin (minor), vioxanthin (minor) and demethylvioxanthin (minor). Many of these features are characteristic of the genus Cratira Marbach (2000: 160), so the species is transferred to that genus. Cratiria is distinguished from Buellia sensu str. by an exciple which is differentiated in a dark brown inner and peripheral part and a hyaline or pale brown central part (it is uniform and black in Buellia ), a hymenium which is not inspersed or inspersed with minute globular oil droplets (the inspersion is always present in Buellia and is formed by rather large and irregular oil droplets) and by Buellia - type ascospores (Callispora - type in Buellia ). Previously, C. vioxanthina was known only from Australia (northern Queensland and Northern Territory) but here is reported from South America for the first time. It is also a new addition to the lichen biota of Brazil.

Specimens examined:— BRAZIL. Sergipe: Serra de Itabaiana, ca. 45 km NE of Aracuja, Parque Nacional Serra de Itabaiana, in an open Caatinga on a white arenite bolder near the ground, 240 m, 10°44’51’’ S, 37°20’29’’ W, 14 April 2010, K. Kalb & L. Rodrigues (hb. Kalb 37920) ;— São Paulo: Praia do Lázaro near Ubatuba , in a dry and light coastal forest not subject to flooding (Restinga) on a granite boulder, 2 m, 23°25’ S, 45°10’ W, 29 September 1979, K. Kalb (hb. Kalb 38977) .