Lichenomphalia is both a basidiolichen and an agaric genus.
Etymology
Lichenomphalia is derived from the word
lichen combined with the old, shorter, generic name
Omphalina from whence the more familiar, longer, diminutive generic name
Omphalina was derived. Basically it means the lichen omphalias.
Thallus names and nomenclature
Long before the connection was made between the nonlichenized agaric fruitbodies and the lichenized thalli, botanists and lichenologists named the asexual lichen thalli of
Lichenomphalia species several times in a number of genera.
Carl Linnaeus in 1753 described the lichen thallus of
L. umbellifera as an '
alga' named
Byssus botryoides while simultaneously including the fruitbodies of
L. umbellifera within his concept of
Agaricus umbelliferus, the
basionym for the name
L. umbellifera.
Byssus botryoides is the
type species of the now officially rejected generic names
Phytoconis and
Botrydina.
Erik Acharius in 1810 described the thalli of
L. hudsoniana as a lichen,
Endocarpon viride, which is the type of another officially rejected name,
Coriscium. The names 'Botrydina' and 'Coriscium' are often used to describe the thalli of different
Lichenomphalia even though they are rejected names listed in the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (Appendix V).
[ Prior to officially rejecting these names, the names Botrydina and Phytoconis were both applied to describe Lichenomphalia species. Hence literature on these lichenized agarics appears under a myriad of names, such as Omphalina, Gerronema, Phytoconis, Botrydina and Coriscium.
]
Photobionts
Species in Lichenomphalia form symbiosis relationships with green algae of the genus Coccomyxa. Studies have shown that at least five Lichenomphalia species ( L. grisella, L. hudsoniana, L. luteovitellina, L. velutina, and L. umbellifera) share a single phylogenetic species, Coccomyxa subellipsoidea, as their photobiont. Research on L. meridionalis has demonstrated that it can associate with two different strains of C. subellipsoidea, with their distribution varying according to altitude – one strain predominating at lower elevations and another at higher elevations. Some Lichenomphalia specimens, particularly L. meridionalis collected at lower elevations, can also contain cyanobacteria alongside their primary green algal partner, suggesting the potential for a three-way symbiotic relationship in certain environmental conditions.
Species
, Species Fungorum accepts 15 species of Lichenomphalia.
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Lichenomphalia alpina
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Lichenomphalia altoandina
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Lichenomphalia aurantiaca – Colombia
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Lichenomphalia chromacea – Australia
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Lichenomphalia cinereispinula
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Lichenomphalia hudsoniana – widespread in Northern Hemisphere
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Lichenomphalia lobata – Colombia; Ecuador; Venezuela
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Lichenomphalia luteovitellina
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Lichenomphalia meridionalis
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Lichenomphalia oreades
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Lichenomphalia pararustica
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Lichenomphalia tasmanica – Tasmania, Australia
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Lichenomphalia umbellifera – widespread in Northern Hemisphere
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Lichenomphalia velutina – China; Europe; Greenland; North America;
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Lichenomphalia wallacei
See also
-
List of Agaricales genera
External links
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[1] Lichenomphalia umbellifera
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[2] Lichenomphalia umbellifera
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[3] Lichenomphalia alpina
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Lichenomphalia hudsoniana thalli originally called Coriscium viride
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[4] Lichenomphalia chromacea from Australia.
