Arthopyrenia betulicola (Arthopyreniaceae, Dothidiomycetes), an Unusual New Lichenized Fungus From High Elevations of the Southern Appalachian Mountains

Abstract

The crustose pyrenolichen Arthopyrenia betulicola is described as new to science based on collections from high elevations of Great Smoky Mountains National Park in eastern North America. The species is hypothesized to be endemic to the southern Appalachian Mountains where it occurs only on the bark of mature yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis). It is a somewhat unusual member of the genus Arthopyrenia s.l. in consistently having a conspicuous photobiont layer of Trentepohlia. It differs from A. cinchonae, with which it is allopatric, by this feature as well as in having differently shaped and narrower ascospores.