Caeruleum (lichen) explained

Caeruleum is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Acarosporaceae. Two species are currently recognized, C. heppii and C. immersum. Caeruleum is generally similar to the related genus Acarospora.^{[1] [2]}

Naming

The generic name, "Caeruleum", refers to the blue color stain of the after treatment with Lugol's iodine.^[1]

Taxonomy

The genus Caeruleum was described in 2012 by Linda in Arcadia and Kerry Knudsen, with the type species Caeruleum heppii ("Hepp's cracked lichen").^[3] C. heppii had previously been described as a species of both Acarospora and Myriospora. An additional combination was also erected as Caeruleum immersum. C. immersum has also been assigned as a species of Acarospora and Myriospora in the past. Arcadia & Knudsen (2012) noted that future research may indicate that C. immersum represents a synonym of C. heppii.^[1]

Caeruleum is one of eleven genera within the Acarosporaceae family of fungi.^[4]

Notes and References

1. Arcadia . Linda in . Knudsen . Kerry . 2012-01-03 . The name Myriospora is available for the Acarospora smaragdula group . Opuscula Philolichenum . 11 . 19–25.
2. Lücking . Robert . Hodkinson . Brendan P. . Leavitt . Steven D. . 2017-01-03 . The 2016 classification of lichenized fungi in the Ascomycota and Basidiomycota – Approaching one thousand genera . The Bryologist . 119 . 4 . 361–416 . 10.1639/0007-2745-119.4.361 . 0007-2745.
3. Web site: Acarospora heppii (Nageli ex Hepp) Nageli ex Körb. . 2023-11-19 . plants.usda.gov.
4. Wijayawardene . Nn . Hyde . Kd . Dai . Dq . Sánchez-García . M . Goto . Bt . Saxena . Rk . Erdoğdu . M . Selçuk . F . Rajeshkumar . Kc . Aptroot . A . Błaszkowski . J . Boonyuen . N . da Silva . Ga . de Souza . Fa . Dong . W . 2022 . Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa – 2021 . Mycosphere . 13 . 1 . 53–453 . 10.5943/mycosphere/13/1/2.