The Lichenologist 47(5): 323–334 (2015)
doi:10.1017/S0024282915000237
© British Lichen Society, 2015
The description of a new species reveals underestimated diversity in
the lichen genus Bulbothrix (Parmeliaceae) in Africa
Didier MASSON, Michel N. BENATTI and Emmanuël SÉRUSIAUX
Abstract: Bulbothrix johannis is described as new to science. The species is morphologically similar to
the South American Bulbothrix pseudofungicola Benatti & Marcelli but has wider lobes, laminal ciliate
isidia which frequently develop into phyllidia, larger cilia and rhizines, and longer ascospores. This
epiphytic species occurs fairly frequently in the cloud forests and montane thickets on Réunion Island
(Mascarene archipelago). The comparison of B. johannis with morphologically and chemically similar
species shows that several different African taxa are currently grouped under the widely used but
problematic name B. suffixa (Stirt.) Hale.
Key words: Bulbothrix johannis, Bulbothrix suffixa, Indian Ocean, molecular phylogeny, Réunion,
taxonomy
Accepted for publication 12 May 2015
Introduction
Bulbothrix Hale is a genus of parmelioid
lichens mainly characterized by small thalli,
lobes with bulbate marginal cilia and
atranorin in the cortex (Hale 1974, 1976;
Elix 1993). However, recent phylogenetic
studies demonstrate that the genus, as currently circumscribed using morphological
and chemical characters, is polyphyletic with
species containing salazinic acid closely related to Parmelinella wallichiana (Taylor) Elix
& Hale (Divakar et al. 2006, 2010; Crespo
et al. 2010; Benatti 2012d, 2013a). Sixty-one
species are currently recognized in the
genus Bulbothrix s. lat. (Benatti 2011, 2012a–d,
2013a–c, 2014; Benatti & Elix 2012;
Bungartz et al. 2013; Zhang et al. 2014). These
species are mainly tropical-subtropical (Elix
1993) but several species extend to temperate
regions (Calvelo & Adler 1999).
D. Masson: 386 rue des Flamboyants, F-40600 Biscarrosse, France.
M. N. Benatti: Instituto de Botânica, Núcleo de
Pesquisa em Micologia, Caixa Postal 68041, São Paulo /
SP, CEP 04045-972, Brazil.
E. Sérusiaux (corresponding author): Evolution and
Conservation Biology Unit, University of Liège, Sart
Tilman B22, B-4000 Liège, Belgium. Email: E.Serusiaux
@ulg.ac.be
Lying near the Tropic of Capricorn c.
700 km east of Madagascar in the Indian
Ocean, the Mascarene archipelago is part of
the Madagascar and Indian Ocean Islands
biodiversity hotspot (Mittermeier et al.
2004), and its moist forests (together with
those of the Seychelles islands) belong to the
“Global 200 ecoregions with outstanding
biodiversity” (Olson & Dinerstein 2002).
Until 1990, a single Bulbothrix species
[B. suffixa (Stirt.) Hale] was reported from
the Mascarenes, based on a single specimen
collected by R. E. Vaughan in Mauritius
(Hale 1976). However, a further enigmatic
species has been found several times on the
nearby (170 km apart) island of Réunion
(by J. A. Elix on the basis of collections made
by K. Kalb, and by the first author). It is
characterized by bulbate-ciliate isidia, at first
cylindrical but frequently developing into
phyllidia, a black lower cortex, branched
cilia and rhizines, ecoronate apothecia and
a medulla with gyrophoric acid as the
main secondary metabolite. It is thus morphologically similar to the South American
Bulbothrix pseudofungicola Benatti & Marcelli
(Benatti 2012c) but has wider lobes, laminal
ciliate isidia which frequently develop
into phyllidia, larger cilia and rhizines, and
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THE LICHENOLOGIST
longer ascospores. It therefore seemed to be
intermediate between B. fungicola (Lynge)
Hale and B. suffixa, as circumscribed by Hale
(1976). Detailed morphological, anatomical,
chemical and molecular studies of additional
material from Réunion and surrounding
countries, as well as type specimens of all
Bulbothrix species as part of a revision of
that genus (Benatti 2010), led us to conclude
that the material from Réunion does indeed
represent a new species. It is formally described in this paper.
Material and Methods
The material from Réunion was collected by the first
author during several field trips in 2003, 2005, 2012 and
2013. Two specimens from the same island, collected by
P. van den Boom in 2008, were also studied. Herbarium
specimens determined as Bulbothrix suffixa sensu Hale
from Kenya (O), Madagascar (BR), Mauritius (BM, O)
and South Africa (UPS) were also examined for
comparative purposes.
Morphological, anatomical and chemical characters
were investigated following the procedure outlined by
Masson (2012). Definition and terminology of the
apothecial layers follow Ferencova (2012): the proper
exciple is divided into three parts, the hyaline layer below
the subhymenium, the intermediate layer, and the cortexlike basal layer just above the algal layer. When fertile
material was available, 30 mature non-deformed ascospores in a single well-developed apothecium per thallus
(= one individual) were measured. To measure the
thickness of anatomical structures, five random measurements were carried out in three individuals after staining in
lactic cotton blue. Statistics for spore measurements are
given as arithmetic mean value (in italics) plus/minus
1·96 × standard deviation (rounded to the nearest 0·5 µm
for the length and width values); observed maximum and
minimum dimensions that fall outside the 95% confidence
interval are given in parentheses; Q = length/width ratio.
Statistics for the other anatomical measurements are given
as the arithmetical mean value (in italics) between the
observed minimum and maximum values (in parentheses).
Secondary metabolites were studied by thin-layer
chromatography (TLC) according to the standard
procedure and with the solvent systems A, C, E, EA
and G (Orange et al. 2001). The catalogue of Elix (2014)
was used for identification of lichen substances.
The codes used for colours follow Online Auction
Color Chart (2004). Bioclimates of the localities are
determined according to Rivas-Martínez & Rivas-Sáenz
(2009); climatic data is from Jumaux et al. (2011).
Typology of the natural habitats of Réunion follow
Strasberg et al. (2005). Material preserved in the private
herbarium of the first author is referred to as ‘h’.
Three well-preserved lichen specimens lacking any
visible symptoms of fungal infection were sampled for
Vol. 47
DNA isolation. Extraction of DNA and PCR amplification were performed following the protocol of Cubero
et al. (1999). The following primers were used: a) for
ITS: ITS1F (Gardes & Bruns 1993) and ITS4 (White
et al. 1990); b) for mtSSU: mrSSU1 and mrSSU3R
(Zoller et al. 1999); c) for nLSU: LIC2044, LR0R,
LR3R, LR3, and LR6 available at http://www.lutzonilab.
net/primers. Amplicons were sequenced by Macrogen®.
Sequence fragments were assembled with Sequencher
version 5.2.3 (Gene Codes Corporation, Ann Arbor,
Michigan). Sequences were subjected to MEGABLAST
searches to detect potential contamination. They were
included in a single matrix extracted from Divakar
et al. (2010). Pertinent data available from GenBank
for the genus Bulbothrix plus one accession of B. suffixa
(OLICH668-13) retrieved from http://nhm2.uio.
no/lichens/barcode were also included (Table 1).
Myelochroa aurulenta (Tuck.) Elix & Hale was chosen as
outgroup following Divakar et al. (2010).
Sequences were aligned manually using MacClade
version 4.08 (Maddison & Maddison 2005) and checked
with the MAFTT facility (Katoh & Standley 2013).
Ambiguous regions were delimited using the online
version of GBlocks v 0.91b (Castresana 2000) at http://
molevol.cmima.csic.es/castresana/Gblocks.html, allowing for gap positions within the final blocks, and carefully
checked manually. The aligned matrix is deposited in
Treebase (accession no. 17258).
Congruence of the three fungal loci was assessed by the
comparison of single-locus phylogenetic trees produced
with RAxML HPC2 version 7.2.8 (Stamatakis 2006;
Stamatakis et al. 2008), as implemented on the CIPRES
portal (Miller et al. 2010), looking for the best ML tree and
bootstrapping with 1000 pseudoreplicates in the same run,
using the GTRCAT model and default settings. No
significant conflict with bootstrap values (BS) >70 was
detected and we therefore concatenated the different loci.
We thus produced the best likelihood tree and bootstrapped for 1000 pseudoreplicates in the same run using
RAxML. Phylogenetic trees were visualized using FigTree
v1.2.3 (Rambaut 2009). Branch support values were
considered significant when ML bootstrap (BS) > 70%.
Material examined for comparison. Bulbothrix aff.
johannis: Mauritius: Black River: path from Plaine
Champagne towards Piton de la Petite Rivière Noire,
20°25'S, 57°25'E, 600 m, 1991, H. Krog & E. Timdal
MAU09/01 (O L-021167); ibid., 20°25'S, 57°25'E,
620–828 m, 1991, H. Krog & E. Timdal MAU51/06,
MAU51/28 (O L-021833, L-021835). Moka: Mt Le
Pouce, 20°12'S, 57°31'E, 730–750 m, 1991, H. Krog &
E. Timdal MAU47/01 (O L-021805). Plaines Wilhems:
Pétrin Heath, 20°24'S, 57°28'E, 650 m, 1991, H. Krog &
E. Timdal MAU10/35 (O L-021241); near Midlands,
R. E. Vaughan L/6, det. M. E. Hale 1963 (BM). Savanne:
Mt Cocotte, SE of the peak, 20°26'S, 57°28'E, 640 m,
1991, H. Krog & E. Timdal MAU59/01 (O L-022033);
ibid., 20°26'S, 57°28'E, 750 m, 1991, H. Krog &
E. Timdal MAU32/01, MAU32/02 (O L-021556,
L-021557); Plaine Champagne, 20°26'S, 57°27'E,
650 m, 1991, H. Krog & E. Timdal MAU57/01,
MAU57/02 (O L-021989, L-021990).
2015
Bulbothrix johannis —Masson et al.
325
TABLE 1. List of species, specimens and accession numbers of the three markers ITS, mtSSU, and nuLSU included in the
phylogenetic analysis of the genus Bulbothrix. Newly obtained sequences for this study are in bold.
GenBank Accession Numbers
Species
Country
Voucher specimen
ITS
mtSSU
nuLSU
Bulbothrix apophysata
B. coronata
B. decurtata
B. goebelii
B. aff. goebelii 1
B. aff. goebelii 2
B. hypocraea
B. aff. hypocraea
B. isidiza 1
B. isidiza 2
B. johannis 1
Costa Rica
South Africa
South Africa
South Africa
Fiji
Fiji
Madagascar
Madagascar
Congo (RDC)
Madagascar
Réunion
DQ279481
DQ279482
DQ279483
DQ279484
GQ919260
GQ919261
—
—
GQ919262
GQ919263
KP939263
DQ287788
DQ287789
DQ287790
DQ287791
GQ919208
GQ919209
GQ919212
GQ919213
GQ919210
GQ919211
KP939266
EU562670
EU562671
EU562672
EU562673
GQ919235
GQ919236
GQ919239
GQ919240
GQ919237
GQ919238
KP939267
B. johannis 2
Réunion
KP939265
—
—
B. johannis (type)
Réunion
KP939264
—
—
B. aff. johannis
B. aff. klementii
B. laevigatula
B. meizospora
B. sensibilis
B. setschwanensis
B. suffixa aggr.
B. tabacina 1
B. tabacina 2
B. tabacina 3
B. tabacina 4
B. aff tabacina
Parmelinella wallichiana
Myelochroa aurulenta
Mauritius
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
India
Rwanda
China
Madagascar
Kenya
Kenya
Cameroon
Congo (RDC)
Cameroon
India
India
16650b (F)
MAF-Lich 13987
MAF-Lich 13988
MAF-Lich 13985
19817e (F)
19817g (F)
12876 (BR)
12888 (BR)
MAF-Lich 15511
12878 (BR)
974.4051 (h)
DNA S3251 (LG)
974.4263 (h)
DNA S3348 (LG)
974.4468 (G)
DNA S3347 (LG)
O L-021805
15170a (F)
15045b (F)
GUH 02-000786
11025 (BR)
MAF-Lich 10212
12889 (BR)
19529P
MAF-Lich 16112
BRY C56006 (BYU)
MAF-Lich 16111
BRY C56043 (BYU)
MAF-Lich 7653
MAF-Lich 13992
—
DQ287792
GQ919214
AY611127
—
—
GQ919215
—
GQ919216
—
—
—
AY611165
EF025484
—
—
—
AY607780
GQ919241
AY607781
GQ919242
—
GQ919244
—
GQ919243
—
AY607819
EF042917
OLICH668-13
DQ279485
GQ919264
AY611068
GQ919265
AY611069
GQ919266
JN943845
GQ919268
JQ673450
GQ919267
JQ673449
AY611106
DQ279530
Accessions retrieved from GenBank already published in Divakar et al. (2010) and in Orock et al. (2012). Accession
OLICH668-13 retrieved from http://nhm2.uio.no/lichens/barcode/index.php?sp=Bulbothrix&pfx=O-L-&gui=&pr=
&full=1.
Bulbothrix suffixa (Stirton) Hale aggr. Kenya: Eastern
Province: Meru District, Mt Kenya, 0°09'S, 37°34'E,
2100 m, 1974, H. Krog 3K 15/124 (O L-184256).—
Madagascar: Fianarantsoa: Col de Tapia, N Ambositra,
2008, D. Ertz 12889 (BR).— South Africa: Western
Cape: Langeberg, Grootvaderbosch, 34°00'S, 20°49'E,
300 m, 1996, L. Tibell 21366 (UPS L-101225);
Outeniqua Range, Ysternek Nature Reserve, close to
Dal van Varings Picnic area, 33°55'S, 23°09'E, 640 m,
1996, L. Tibell 21272 (UPS L-101132); Knysna Div.,
Buffelsnek, Dal van Varings, 720 m, 1970, G. Degelius
SA-270a, det. M. E. Hale 1971 (UPS L-55529).
Results
Phylogenetic analysis
One sequence of ITS, mtSSU, and nuLSU
and two sequences of ITS from three
Bulbothrix johannis specimens, including
the type, were newly generated for this
study. 1467 characters were included, 187
being potentially parsimony-informative.
The single most-likely tree had a likelihood
score of −5067·220860. The genus Bulbothrix
is retrieved into two strongly supported lineages
(Fig. 1). The first corresponds to ‘clade C’ in
Divakar et al. (2010), with P. wallichiana as sister
to a strongly supported branch that includes
B. decurtata (Kurok.) Hale, B. hypocraea (Vain.)
Hale, B. aff. hypocraea, B. isidiza (Nyl.) Hale,
B. meizospora (Nyl.) Hale, B. sensibilis (J. Steiner
& Zahlbr.) Hale, B. setschwanensis (Zahlbr.)
Hale, B. tabacina (Mont. & Bosch) Hale
and B. aff. tabacina. The second lineage
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THE LICHENOLOGIST
Vol. 47
Type
1 johannis (Réunion)
2
aff. johannis (Mauritius)
apophysata
laevigatula
coronata
suffixa aggr.
goebelii
aff. klementii
aff. goebelii 2
aff. goebelii 1
hypocraea
meizospora
setschwanensis
2
1
tabacina
3
4
aff. tabacina
isidiza 2
isidiza 1
decurtata
sensibilis
aff. hypocraea
Myelochroa aurulenta
0.01 substitution per site
Parmelinella wallichiana
FIG. 1. Most likely phylogenetic tree of the lichen genus Bulbothrix including B. johannis sp. nov. from Réunion,
inferred from a 3-loci matrix (ITS, nuLSU, mtSSU). Thickened branches with ML support >70%.
corresponds to ‘clade B’ in Divakar et al. (2010)
and includes a poorly resolved and poorly
supported branch with B. goebelii (Zenker)
Hale, B. aff. goebelii, B. aff. klementii and the
Malagasy material of B. suffixa, and also a
strongly supported branch with the new species
B. johannis and B. aff. johannis from Mauritius
sister to a strongly supported group including B.
apophysata (Hale & Kurok.) Hale, B. coronata
(Fée) Hale and B. laevigatula (Nyl.) Hale.
ITS sequences of B. johannis are identical
for the three collections from Réunion,
except for the type specimen which differs
from the other two by a single substitution in
ITS1. It further differs from the Mauritius
accession of B. aff. johannis by one indel in
ITS1 and two substitutions and one indel in
ITS2, and further from the Malagasy
accession of B. suffixa by more than 20 substitutions in ITS1 and more than 15 in ITS2.
Taxonomy
Bulbothrix johannis D. M. Masson,
Benatti & Sérus. sp. nov.
MycoBank No.: MB811846
Similar to Bulbothrix pseudofungicola Benatti & Marcelli
but with wider (0·4–2·0 vs 0·4–1·1 mm) lobes, the
presence of laminal isidia which frequently develop into
phyllidia, larger cilia and rhizines, and longer ascospores
(6·0–9·0 vs 4·0–6·0 µm).
Type: Réunion, Salazie, Bélouve, GR R1 trail,
21°04'36''S, 55°31'45''E, 1700 m, on bark of Erica
reunionensis along the edge of an Erica montane thicket
at the top of a cliff, 25 August 2013, D. Masson 974.4468
(G—holotype; LG, SP, hb. Masson—isotypes; GenBank
Acc. for ITS: KP939264).
(Fig. 2)
Thallus foliose, corticolous, up to 8 cm wide,
subcoriaceous, usually tightly adnate. Lobes
2015
Bulbothrix johannis —Masson et al.
327
FIG. 2. Bulbothrix johannis sp. nov. A, part of the holotype with three ecoronate apothecia; B, laminal bulbate-ciliate
isidia (holotype); C, isidia developing into phyllidia (Masson 974.4473); D, habit in the field, lateral sunlight
emphasizes the laminal isidia and phyllidia (Masson 974.4402); E, type locality: tree heather (Erica reunionensis)
montane thicket along a crest; F, currently known distribution on a topographic map of Réunion, a single dot may
represent several nearby localities. Scales: A & D = 5 mm; B & C = 0·4 mm; F = 10 km.
328
THE LICHENOLOGIST
sublinear, anisotomously dichotomously,
trichotomously or irregularly branched
(Fig. 2D), 0·4–2·0 mm wide, contiguous or
becoming slightly imbricate in central parts,
plane or slightly convex, occasionally uneven,
apices plane or somewhat revolute, truncate to
subtruncate, occasionally lacinulate, often
darkening at the very tip; margins mostly flat,
smooth and sinuous or subirregular, entire to
slightly incised, not or rarely lacinulate, the
axils oval or subirregular. Cilia black, apices
initially simple or furcate, eventually becoming
± dichotomously to irregularly branched
at the axils, 0·05–0·60(–1·10) × 0·03–0·05 mm,
with immersed to semi-immersed bulbate
bases c. 0·05–0·15 mm wide, abundant at the
margins, spaced c. 0·05 mm from each other to
occasionally contiguous, being sparse or absent
only at the apices of the lobes. Upper surface
pale ash grey (oac151, oac179, oac214, oac235
or oac256), more yellowish in the herbarium,
continuous, smooth, ± shiny, epruinose, emaculate (only scars left by broken isidia/lacinules), without pseudocyphellae, laminal
ciliary bulbs absent, lacking pustules, dactyls
and soredia. Isidia simple to irregularly branched, laminal, frequent to abundant, smooth,
with ciliary bulbs often developing into
± elongated cilia, apically darkening (brownish), initially ± cylindrical (Fig. 2B) but often
soon flattening and developing into lacinules
(Fig. 2C), 0·05–0·10 mm thick, up
to 1·0 mm long. Lacinules often laminal, rare
to abundant, from occasional to sparse or
absent at the margins, originating from isidia
initials and frequently with propagule function
(phyllidia), except for a few marginal or
apical adventitious ones that are short, subcanaliculate to plane and lingulate, ascendant
to procumbent, simple to furcate, bulbateciliate, apices truncate or acute, lower side
brown to black when developed, 0·10–
1·20 × 0·05–0·40 mm. Medulla white throughout. Lower surface black, shiny, smooth to
somewhat rugulose, marginal zone brown,
attenuate, c. 0·5–1·5 mm wide, shiny, smooth,
weakly papillate, rhizinate. Rhizines black,
rarely brown or with brownish apices at the
margins, initially simple or furcate but very
soon becoming dichotomously or irregularly
branched, some with bulbate bases, 0·05–0·80
Vol. 47
(–1·20) × 0·03–0·05 mm, moderately dense or
dense almost like a tomentum up to the margins, evenly distributed. Upper cortex palisade
paraplectenchymatous, (13·0–)22·0(–30·0) µm
thick. Algal layer continuous, (15·0–)18·6
(–23·0) µm thick; photobiont trebouxioid.
Medulla (31·0–)42·6(–55·0) µm thick. Lower
cortex paraplectenchymatous, proportionally
thick (19·0–)22·3(–28·0) µm.
Apothecia rather frequent (fertile thalli
found in 55% of the localities), laminal,
sessile or rarely substipitate, first concave
then almost plane or contorted with age, up
to 1 cm diam., ecoronate, amphithecium
smooth, rarely faintly isidiate, margin entire
or ± crenate; disc red-brown (oac643 or
oac686), epruinose, ± glossy, imperforate,
sometimes radially split with age (Fig. 2A);
epihymenium (5·0–)7·5(–10·0) µm high;
hymenium (30·0–)41·9(–53·0) µm high, subhymenium (5·0–)7·1(–8·0) µm high; proper
exciple of type IV (Ferencova 2012), hyaline
layer (13·0–)18·8(–24·0) µm high, intermediate
layer (10·0–)12·8(–16·0) µm high, basal
layer (9·0–)11·6(–15·0) µm high. Ascospores 8 per
ascus, simple, colourless, ellipsoidal, 6·0–
7·6–9·0(–10·0) × 3·5–4·2–5·0 µm, Q = (1·20–)
1·32–1·75–2·17(–2·57) (n = 210, from 7
individuals), epispore c. 0·5–1·0 µm thick.
Pycnidia sparse, laminal or on the lacinules,
immersed, with black ostioles. Conidia not
found.
Chemistry. Upper cortex K+ yellow, C−,
KC−, P− or P+ faintly yellow, UV−; medulla
K−, C+ reddish pink, KC+ reddish pink, P−,
UV−. Secondary metabolites: TLC: upper
cortex with atranorin and chloroatranorin;
medulla with gyrophoric acid; HPLC (det. J.
A. Elix, from specimen P. van den Boom
40422B): atranorin (minor), chloroatranorin
(minor), gyrophoric acid (major), lecanoric
acid (minor), isopigmentosin B (minor).
Etymology. From the Latin Johannes: John.
The species is named in honour of Prof. John
A. Elix (Canberra) who was the first to
suspect it was an undescribed taxon and for his
generous help and support on many occasions.
Habitat and distribution. Bulbothrix johannis
is currently known from 22 localities on
2015
Bulbothrix johannis —Masson et al.
Réunion (Mascarene Islands, Indian Ocean)
(Fig. 2F). Interestingly, all are within the
core zone of Réunion National Park. The
majority of localities lie between 1330–1860
m a.s.l. Their bioclimatic features can be
summarized as follows: bioclimate = pluvial
tropical, thermotype belts = lower and upper
mesotropical (342 ≤ It ≤ 424), ombrotype
belts = from upper humid to ultrahyperhumid (10·8 ≤ Io ≤ 28·7). The most
southern locality lies at a lower elevation
(1015 m) in the upper thermotropical thermotype belt (It = 523). Habitats in which the
species thrives are leeward and windward
montane rainforests, Erica reunionensis montane thicket and Acacia heterophylla montane
forest, but some specimens were also found
in Pandanus montanus montane wet thicket or
in an old Cryptomeria japonica plantation.
Fairly large populations can be found in
cloud forests or Erica montane thickets along
crests at the top of cliffs, for example at the
type locality (Fig. 2E). Bulbothrix johannis
grows on bark, sometimes overgrowing mosses,
mainly on branches, rarely on boles. The main
phorophyte (65% of the collections) is the
endemic tree heather Erica reunionensis E. G. H.
Oliv., but B. johannis was also found on the
native shrub Phylica nitida Lam. and the native
trees Aphloia theiformis (Vahl.) Benn., Dombeya
spp., Pandanus montanus Bory, Weinmannia sp.
as well as the introduced Cryptomeria japonica
(L. f.) D. Don. The most frequent macrolichens growing intermixed with B. johannis
thalli are Heterodermia boryi (Fée) K. P. Singh &
S. R. Singh and Usnea spp. (young thalli).
Bulbothrix johannis can be described as a
hygrophilous
(mostly
aerohygrophilous),
ombrophilous, rather photophilous (thrives in
light) but not heliophilous (it avoids direct
sunlight), acidophilous lichen.
Additional specimens examined. Réunion: Cilaos,
above Îlet des Salazes, 21°06'47''S, 55°26'42''E, 1710 m,
2012, D. Masson 974.3897 (h); ibid., 21°06'38''S,
55°26'39''E, 1725 m, 2012, D. Masson 974.3901 (h); Cilaos,
Bras Sec, sentier Kervéguen, 21°07'41''S, 55°29'57''E,
1560 m, 2012, D. Masson 974.3976 (h); Le Tampon, forêt
de Notre-Dame de la Paix, 21°16'S, 55°36'E, 1700 m, 2005,
D. Masson 974.4212 (h); ibid., Le Belvédère,
21°15'51''S, 55°36'09''E, 1720 m, 2005, D. Masson
974.1381 (h); Le Tampon, Plaine-des-Cafres, sentier
de Bébour, 21°08'35''S, 55°34'18''E, 1600 m, 2012,
329
D. Masson 974.4051 (h); Le Tampon, forêt de la
Plaine-des-Cafres, between Piton Tortue and Piton
Lepervanche, GR R2 trail, 21°09'11''S, 55°33'12''E,
1710 m, 2013, D. Masson 974.4402 (h); ibid., GR R2 trail
west of Piton Tortue, 21°09'04''S, 55°32'44''E, 1735 m,
2013, D. Masson 974.4410, 974.4412 (h); ibid.,
21°08'39''S, 55°32'25''E, 1860 m, 2013, D. Masson
974.4424-974.4426 (REU, h); Saint-Benoît, forêt de
Bébour, Piton de Bébour, 21°07'33''S, 55°33'52''E,
1390 m, 2003, D. Masson 974.0017 (h); ibid., east of Piton
de Bébour, 21°07'45''S, 55°34'10''E, 1330 m, 2003,
D. Masson 974.0057 (h); ibid., sentier de Takamaka,
21°06'25''S, 55°34'02''E, 1365 m, 2005, D. Masson
974.2155 (h); Saint-Denis, Plaine d’Affouches,
20°59'14''S, 55°26'02''E, 1720 m, 2012, D. Masson
974.3884 (SP, h); ibid., 20°59'15''S, 55°25'58''E, 1710 m,
2012, D. Masson 974.3891 (SP, h); Saint-Philippe, forêt
de Saint-Philippe, trail to Piton Ravine Basse Vallée,
21°19'36''S, 55°42'12''E, 1015 m, 2013, D. Masson
974.4263 (h); Sainte-Marie, haut de la Plaine des
Fougères, 21°00'02''S, 55°29'59''E, 1705 m, 2012,
D. Masson 974.4151 (SP, h); Salazie, Bélouve, near Gîte
de Bélouve, 21°03·5'S, 55°32·5'E, 1520 m, 2008, P. van
den Boom 39841 (hb. van den Boom) [mentioned as
Bulbothrix suffixa in van den Boom et al. 2011]; ibid., trail
GR R1 from Gîte de Bélouve, to Caverne Mussard,
21°04·4'S, 55°32·0'E, 1600 m, 2008, P. van den Boom
40422B (hb. van den Boom) [mentioned as Bulbothrix
goebelii in van den Boom et al. 2011]; ibid., GR R1 trail,
21°04'29''S, 55°31'49''E, 1665 m, 2013, D. Masson
974.4456, 974.4457 (REU, h); ibid., GR R1 trail,
21°04'36''S, 55°31'45''E, 1700 m, 2013, D. Masson
974.4473 (h); ibid., GR R1 trail, 21°04'38''S, 55°31'43''E,
1720 m, 2013, D. Masson 974.4483 (h); ibid., GR R1 trail,
21°04'47''S, 55°31'38''E, 1785 m, 2013, D. Masson
974.4478, 974.4479 (h).
Discussion
Bulbothrix johannis differs from B. fungicola
and B. pseudocoronata (Gyeln.) Benatti &
Marcelli by having much wider lobes (c. two or
three times larger), ecoronate apothecia
(uncommon for species containing gyrophoric
acid), more highly branched cilia and rhizines,
and somewhat smaller ascospores (Table 2).
Furthermore, B. fungicola is only isidiate, while
B. pseudocoronata is only phyllidiate, producing laminal lacinules that function as propagules. Both B. fungicola and B. pseudocoronata
are so far known only from the New World,
being found in Central and South America
(Hale 1976; Benatti 2012a, 2014).
Bulbothrix pseudofungicola Benatti & Marcelli
is another similar species with a black lower
cortex, ecoronate apothecia, branched cilia
and rhizines, and medullary gyrophoric acid.
330
THE LICHENOLOGIST
Vol. 47
TABLE 2. Comparison of Bulbothrix johannis with similar Bulbothrix species which have black lower cortex, ciliate isidia/
phyllidia and medullary gyrophoric acid.
Variation in characters between Bulbothrix species
Character
B. johannis
B. pseudofungicola
B. fungicola
B. pseudocoronata
lobe width (mm)
apothecia
spore
length (µm)
width (µm)
vegetative propagules
cilia & rhizines
0·4–2·0
ecoronate
0·4–1·1
ecoronate
0·2–0·7
coronate
0·1–0·6
coronate
6·0–7·6–9·0
3·5–4·2–5·0
isidia, ± phyllidia
branched
4·0–6·0
4·0–5·0
isidia
branched
8·0–10·0
4·5–6·0
isidia
mainly simple or furcate
7·0–9·5
4·5–5·5
phyllidia
simple or furcate
References: B. johannis, this study; B. pseudofungicola, Benatti (2012c); B. fungicola, Benatti (2014); B. pseudocoronata,
Benatti (2012a).
It differs by the narrower lobes, smaller
ascospores (amongst the smallest found in
the genus), and presence of bulbate-ciliate
isidia only (Table 2). It is known only from
South America (Benatti 2012c).
Bulbothrix suffixa is another taxon morphologically (black lower surface, branched
rhizines) and chemically (gyrophoric acid in
the medulla) somewhat similar to B. johannis.
However, the type material (BM !) is poorly
developed, without apothecia, and in only
the early stage of propagule formation
(laminal isidium initials with cilia). Moreover, the protologue does not mention any
vegetative propagules (Stirton 1878). It is
therefore impossible to clearly establish the
identity of that species (Benatti 2014). In his
monograph of the genus, Hale (1976: 23–24)
described B. suffixa as having a densely
lobulate upper surface with no isidia and
lobes 0·5–1·5 mm wide [so somewhat larger
than the lobes of the type specimen: 0·3–
0·9 mm wide according to Benatti (2014)].
The apothecia are described as coronate in
the paragraph dedicated to the taxon (p. 23)
but ecoronate in a comparison with
B. fungicola in the same paper (p. 14). In an
earlier publication (Hale & Kurokawa 1964:
136), Parmelia suffixa Stirt. was mentioned with
ecoronate apothecia. Therefore, Bulbothrix
suffixa sensu Hale (1976) corresponds poorly
to the type material. Bulbothrix suffixa is
mentioned from several African countries near
Réunion: South Africa (where the type was
collected), Mauritius (Hale 1976), Kenya
(Swinscow & Krog 1988), Madagascar
(Aptroot 1990) and Tanzania (Alstrup et al.
2010). Examination of several herbarium
specimens from these countries (Table 3)
shows that several different taxa are obviously
included under that name, at least in Africa,
and thus further study is required. Compared
to B. johannis, material from South Africa
(UPS) has narrower laciniae and a thinner
lower cortex (akin to the type specimen of
Parmelia suffixa), and shorter and wider
spores (which make them more broadly
ellipsoidal). The Malagasy specimen examined has much narrower lobes, more densely
ciliate isidia/phyllidia, less branched cilia and
rhizines, and it is phylogenetically distant
from B. johannis (Fig. 1). The rich collection
studied from Mauritius is homogeneous and
was attributed to B. suffixa by Hale (material
from BM) and Krog & Timdal (material
from O). These specimens have clearly wider
and thicker lobes than the type of B. suffixa.
They further differ from B. johannis by
abundant phyllidia without any genuine
isidia, as in B. pseudocoronata. Moreover, the
medulla is thinner in the collection from
Mauritius (comparison between 15 measurements of medulla thickness from 3 thalli
of each species; one-tailed Wilcoxon-MannWhitney test: U = 25, α < 0·001). Only a
tiny apothecium (0·45 mm diam.), totally
devoid of bulbs, was found on one thallus
(O L-021805). As Bulbothrix species with
coronate apothecia commonly start developing apothecial bulbs at very young stages, it is
2015
TABLE 3. Comparison of selected morphological and anatomical features between B. johannis from Réunion, B. aff. johannis from Mauritius, herbarium material labelled
B. suffixa from the surrounding African countries (= B. suffixa aggr.) and the type of B. suffixa.
B. suffixa aggr
Characteristic
lobes width (mm)
apothecia
spore
length (µm)
width (µm)
Q
vegetative propagules
cilia & rhizines
upper cortex thickness (µm)
algal layer thickness (µm)
medulla thickness (µm)
lower cortex thickness (µm)
B. johannis
Réunion
B. aff. johannis
Mauritius (O) Kenya (O)
Madagascar (BR)
South Africa (UPS)
B. suffixa (type)
South Africa
0·4–2·0
ecoronate
0·4–2·0
ecoronate ?
0·5–1·5
ecoronate
≤0·6
?
0·2–1·1
ecoronate
0·3–0·9
?
6·0–7·6–9·0
3·5–4·2–5·0
1·32–1·75–2·17
isidia, ± phyllidia
branched
13–22·0–30
15–18·6–23
31–42·5–55
19–22·3–28
?
?
?
phyllidia
branched
20–24·7–28
3–18·9–28
21–31·3–38
18–22·4–28
6·5–7·6–9·0
3·5–3·9–4·5*
1·61–1·93–2·26*
isidia, phyllidia
branched
20–28
18–24
43–56
20–25
?
?
?
isidia, phyllidia
mainly simple or furcate
?
?
?
?
5·5–7·2–9·0*
3·5–4·5–5·0*
1·20–1·62–2·05*
rare isidia, numerous phyllidia
± branched
13–19·4–28
15–20·0–25
23–35·9–53
6–10·7–15
?
?
?
isidia ?
branched
12·5–17·5
12·5–15
17·5–25
10–15
Bulbothrix johannis —Masson et al.
Variation in characteristics between Bulbothrix species
References: B. johannis and B. suffixa aggr this study; B. suffixa (type), Benatti (2014). * mean values significantly different from those of B. johannis (two-tailed Z-test
α < 0.02).
331
332
THE LICHENOLOGIST
likely the material from Mauritius refers to a
taxon with ecoronate apothecia. The ITS
sequence of a single specimen (O L-021805)
is slightly distinct from B. johannis from
Réunion (one indel in ITS1 and two substitutions and one indel in ITS2); the four
accessions form a strongly supported branch
in our phylogenetic analysis (Fig. 1). Because
of the different kinds of vegetative propagules, and the somewhat different thallus
anatomy and ecology (B. johannis thrives at
higher elevations than the Mauritian taxon:
1015–1860 m vs 600–800 m), we propose to
regard the Mauritian Bulbothrix as a taxon
different from B. johannis but phylogenetically closely related to it.
The single specimen from Kenya we
examined (O L-184256) is most probably the
one mentioned by Swinscow & Krog (1988)
under the name B. suffixa, even though the
ascospore measurements are inconsistent
(6·5–9·0 × 3·5–4·5 (our measurements) vs
10–12 × 5 µm (description of Krog &
Swinscow 1988)). This specimen might
belong to B. johannis according to the morphology, anatomy and chemistry of its
thallus. The only discrepancy lies in the narrower and therefore more oval ascospores for
the Kenyan specimen. It was collected in a
subtropical evergreen submontane forest
(nomenclature following Bussmann 2006)
on the eastern slope of Mount Kenya.
Compared with the bioclimatic features of
the B. johannis localities, the bioclimate of
the Kenyan locality is more seasonal (pluviseasonal tropical vs pluvial tropical) and
somewhat drier (ombrotype belt: lower
humid) but the thermotype belt is similar
(lower mesotropical). More material is
needed to confirm the presence of B. johannis
in Kenya.
Bulbothrix papyrina (Fée) Hale from Asia
and South America is also rather similar to
B. johannis. It shares the same width of lobes,
emaculate upper cortex, black lower cortex,
ecoronate apothecia, branched cilia and
rhizines, and the same chemistry. However,
B. papyrina has eciliate isidia, no phyllidia,
and thicker ascospores; it is also one of the
only two species in the genus known to produce pycnidia on the isidia at mature stages,
Vol. 47
the other being B. cassa Jungbluth et al.
(Benatti & Elix 2012; Benatti 2013b).
So far, no true counterpart of B. johannis
lacking vegetative propagules is known. The
American species Bulbothrix atrichella (Nyl.)
Hale could be a candidate but its thallus is
thinner, the upper surface is distinctly
maculate, the base of the rhizines is not
bulbate and the ascospores are more globose
(Hale 1976; Benatti 2013c).
The authors are indebted to the curators of BR (D. Ertz),
BM (H. Thüs), O (E. Timdal) and UPS (S. Ekman), as
well as P. van den Boom (Son, The Netherlands) and
P. K. Divakar (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) for
the loan of specimens for this study and to P. Richard
(BORD) for facilitating some of these loans. The first
author is grateful to J. A. Elix (Canberra) for discussion
about the identity of the Bulbothrix from Réunion and for
help in the preparation of the manuscript, and P. Clerc
(Genève) for taxonomic advice. Fieldwork by D. Masson
in Réunion National Park was carried out under permits
DIR/I/2012/034 and DIR/I/2013/046. Finally we wish
to thank three referees for their interesting and helpful
comments.
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