A Synopsis of the Species of Amandinea (Lichenized Ascomycetes, Physciaceae) as Presently Known in North America

Abstract

Ascomata, ascus, spore anatomy, spore wall ornamentation, and conidiophore type are discussed with respect to the limits of the genus Amandinea Scheid. & Mayrh. Four new species combinations are made and eight taxa placed in synonymy. Amandinea dakotensis (H. Magn.) P. May & Sheard comb. nov. and A. milliaria (Tuck.) P. May & Sheard comb. nov. are transferred from the genus Rinodina (Ach.) Gray. Amandinea leucomela (Imshaug) P. May & Sheard comb. nov. and A. polyspora (Willey) E. Lay & P. May comb. nov. are transferred from Buellia De Not. The genus Amandinea Scheid. & Mayrh. includes crustose and squamulose members of the Physciaceae with filiform and curved (arcuate, Lamb 1968) conidia, 15-30 jim long (Matzer et al. 1994; Scheidegger 1993). Two other genera in the family, Australiaena Matzer, Mayrh. & Elix (Matzer et al. 1997) and Hyperphyscia Mill. Arg. (Hafellner et al. 1979), also possess this type of conidium. Australiaena is distinguished primarily by its radiate-plicate thallus margin and chemistry, and Hyperphyscia by its foliose thallus. Esslinger and Egan (1995) listed two species of Amandinea for North America, A. coniops (Wahlenb.) Scheid. & H. Mayrh., the type species for the genus, and A. punctata (Hoffm.) Coppins & Scheid. Both species were originally transferred from Buellia and are characterized by biatorine or lecideine apothecia with darkly pigmented hypothecia. Amandinea coniops is described as possessing physconia-type spores and A. punctata, buellia-type spores (Scheidegger 1993). A third species, A. lecideina (H. Mayrh. & Poelt) Scheid. & H. Mayrh., first desribed as a Rinodina (Mayrh. & Poelt 1979), has lecideine apothecia and physconia-type spores. Matzer et al. (1994) transferred Rinodina petermannii (Hue) Darbishire to Amandinea, another species with buellia-type spores, but which typically possesses lecanorine apothecia with hyaline hypothecia. As circumscribed by the authors cited above, apothecial type in Amandinea varies from lecideine, through biatorine to lecanorine, and the spores may or may not possess lateral wall thickenings at the septum. Chemistry is also not uniform for all species since A. petermannii (Hue) Matzer, H. Mayrh. & Scheid. may include norstictic acid in contrast to the other species which lack secondary products. Rambold et al. (1994) surveyed ascal types within the Physciaceae and found that Amandinea and Buellia species possess the bacidia-type (including lecidella-type, Rambold 1989) ascal structure, whereas Rinodina species exhibit the lecanora-type structure. However, there are exceptions in both Rinodina and Buellia (Giralt & Matzer 1994; Rambold et al. 1994). Rambold et al. regard ascus type as being the primary character of the genus, whereas Giralt and Matzer (1994) consider spore type as the primary character. Variation of ascus structure within species has not been reported for Amandi-