Preliminary version 1 December 2013
Melanophloea pacifica P. James & Vezda
Lichenologist 5: 89 (1971) "British Solomon Islands: Kolombangara Island, Kolombangara River, 2-4 miles upstream in lowland rain forest, on trees by the river, 29 August 1965, D. Jackson Hill, no. 10376 (BM, holotypus; UPS, & Herb. Vezda, isotypi).
Synonym: Index Fungorum
Type: British Solomon Islands, Kolombangara Island, Kolombangara River, 2-4 miles upstream in lowland rain forest, on trees by the river, 29 August 1965, D. Jackson Hill 10376 (BM - holotypus; UPS, Herb. Vezda isotypes).
Barcode: Data lacking.
Coordinates: Data lacking.
Thallus: crustose, epiphoeodal, thin, spreading widely, effuse and not distinctly delimited, composed of scattered or more ore less contiguous, spherical granules or verrucae. When well-developed the thalls becomes a continuous crust composed of numerous minute rounded warts ca. 0.1 mm diameter. Cortex not developed, thallus in section consisting of numerous encapsulated clusters of algal cells, each ca. 6-8 µm in size surrounded by compacted ensheathing hyphae, ca. 1 µm thick. Ascocarps perithecia, dispersed, seldom 1 to 3 contiguous, usually associated with some thalline granules, but sometimes completely isolated, at first semiglobose becoming more or less globose or slightly columnar-ellipsoid when mature, 0.2-0.5 mm diameter, 0.2-0.6 mm high; sessile, or only the base immersed in the substratum or among thalline granules. Apex more or less depressed, or at least flattened, around an apical ostiole, ostiole poriform, becoming dilated and open, to 0.2 mm diameter, in older ascocarps. Perithecial wall 70-85 µm thick, uniformly thickened or slightly thicker around the ostiole, outer part 40-45 µm thick, fuscous brown-black, opaque, composed of small compacted indistinct, short-celled hyphaae suffused with a dense fuscous-brown pigment; inner part 30-40 µm thick, hyaline, hyphae thin-walled, forming a rather loosely compacted layer. Asci unitunicate, 180-200-350-400 / 13-15-20-25 µm, elongate-pyriform, cylindrical or lageniform-saccate, wall thin, at the sides 0.5-1.0 µm thick, at the apex to 2.5 µm thick. Spores 500-900 per ascus, spherical, 2.0-2.5-3.0 µm diameter, wall thin, colourless. Paraphysoides numerous, thin, branched-anastomosing, ca. 200-420 µm high, ca. 0.8 µm thick, often rather indistinct. Pycnidia unknown (James & Vezda 1971: 89).
Photobiont: Green alga, cells rounded or slightly ellipsoid, Chlorococcaceae (James & Vezda 1971: 89).
Chemistry: Thallus K-, C-, KC-, P-; no substances detected by crystal tests or thin-layer chromatography. Asci and hymenium I- blue (James & Vezda 1971: 91).
Ecology: On bark.
Molecular data: Genbank
Distribution: Database
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