Cyphelium
Crustose lichens containing a trebouxioid alga; thallus crustose, granular or areolate, rarely sorediate, white, grey, brownish, yellow, or immersed and not apparent; apothecia mazaediate (with asci disintegrating before the spores mature, the spores amassing atop the apothecia in a blackish, powdery mass; rim non-algal, jet black, rather brittle, sometimes partly surrounded by the thallus drawn up around the sides, the whole apothecium sessile or partly to completely immersed in the thallus; hymenium formed of simple, straight or somewhat gnarled paraphyses, these not or weakly embedded in gel; asci thin-walled, clavate, formed in chains (a feature that is hard to observe), disintegrating prior to spore maturity; spores 8 per ascus, colourless or greyish in the ascus, later becoming dark grey-brown, often with a crackled or ridged outer surface, always with at least one septum, or submuriform in some species.
References: Tibell 1999.
| 1a. | Thallus with a strong yellow pigmentation; growing in open-canopy forest and woodlands, or on worked timber; spores 13-17 × 7-9 µ …Cyphelium pinicola |
| 1b. | Thallus white or grey, lacking yellow pigments; sometimes in well-lit sites, but most common in denser forest; spores various …2 |
| 2a. | Apothecia 1.5-2.5 mm wide at maturity, usually with a distinct ring of pruina on the rim; thallus usually lumpy, rarely smooth or immersed; spore walls with faint ridges at maturity …Cyphelium inquinans |
| 2b. | Apothecia 0.4-0.7 mm wide at maturity, usually with no or only faint pruina on the rim; thallus usually smooth to lightly lumpy or immersed; spore walls with cracks at maturity …Cyphelium karelicum |
Cyphelium inquinans (Sm.) Trevisan
Thallus smooth, granular, or warty, rarely sorediate, whitish grey to dark grey, sometimes immersed and not apparent; apothecia black, 1.5-2.5 mm wide, with a thick, prominent non-algal proper rim, usually with a distinct ring of white pruina on the top of the rim; proper rim distinctly thicker at the base than at the top of the rim; spores with the outer surface striate with longitudinal ridges, 1-septate, modestly constricted at the septum, 15-18 × 9-10 µ.
Reactions: K+ yellow to reddish brown, PD- or PD+ pale yellow or orange-red.
Contents: Placodiolic acid and unknown substances.
Habitat: on bark or wood of conifers, usually sheltered from direct rain-drip, near or within the winter snowpack. All forested elevations.
Similar Species: Easily confused with Cyphelium karelicum, especially when growing in shady places where the thallus is less well developed and where the apothecia may be smaller like C. karelicum. When in doubt, the spores, being less strongly constricted at the septum and striate over the surface, contrasts with those of C. karelicum, being strongly constricted and with coarse cracks over the surface.
Specimens: Goward 96-735, 96-1044.
Local Status: Common.
Cyphelium karelicum (Vainio) Räsänen
Thallus medium grey, thin, warty or areolate, often immersed and not apparent or visible only as a pale stain in the substrate; apothecia black, 0.4-0.7 mm wide, with a thick, prominent non-algal proper rim, usually with a faint ring of white pruina on the top of the rim; proper rim distinctly thicker at the base than at the top of the rim; spores with the outer surface conspicuously roughened with irregular plates and cracks, at least late in development, 1-septate, distinctly constricted at the septum, 14-17 × 8-10 µ.
Reactions: All spot tests negative.
Contents: Placodiolic acid and unknown substances.
Habitat: On conifer wood and Thuja bark, rarely on bark of other conifers. All forested elevations.
Similar Species: See notes under Cyphelium inquinans.
Specimens: Björk 96-643.
Local Status: Occasional.
Cyphelium pinicola Tibell
Thallus bright yellow or greenish yellow, areolate, the areoles high-convex; apothecia 0.3-0.6 mm wide, with a thick black rim emerging up from the areoles, but partly buried within them, much thicker at the base as seen in cross section, lacking pruina; spores 14-16 × 7-9 µ, elliptical and moderately constricted at the single septum, smooth early in maturity, but developing a network of cracks over the surface when aging.
Reactions: UV+ orange, K-, PD-.
Contents: Rhizocarpic acid.
Habitat: On wood in well-lit, well-ventilated habitats. Middle elevations (but to be expected at all elevations).
Similar Species: Cyphelium tigillare should be sought in the study area, it is common in boreal regions, and differs from C. pinicola in having a less conspicuous apothecial rim, which is nearly completely sunken in the areoles, and with a thinner exciple.
Specimens: Goward 80-340.
Local Status: Rare.