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Bulbothrix

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Bulbothrix
Dried specimens of the holotype of Bulbothrix lordhowensis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Lecanorales
Family: Parmeliaceae
Genus: Bulbothrix
Hale (1974)
Type species
Bulbothrix semilunata
(Lynge) Hale (1974)
Synonyms[1][2]
  • Bulborrhizina Kurok.
  • Bulbothricella V.Marcano, S.Mohali & A.Morales (1996)[3]

Bulbothrix is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Parmeliaceae. Established in 1974 by the American lichenologist Mason Hale as a segregate from the genus Parmelia, Bulbothrix comprises about 40 accepted species as of 2025. These foliose lichens are distinguished by their characteristic black, bulb-tipped hairs (cilia) along the lobe edges and are found roughly equally divided between the Old World and New World, growing predominantly on trees in lowland rainforests and shrublands.

Taxonomy

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Bulbothrix was circumscribed by the American lichenologist Mason E. Hale in 1974 with Bulbothrix semilunata as the type species. Hale established Bulbothrix as a segregate from Parmelia, specifically from the subgenus Parmelia section Imbricariae subsection Bicornutae. He noted that Bulbothrix is readily recognised by its characteristic black marginal bulbous cilia, which distinguishes it from related genera. Hale observed that the species are roughly equally divided between the Old World and the New World, occurring predominantly on trees in lowland rainforest and in scrub or secondary forests at lower elevations in subtropical to temperate regions.[4]

This genus is synonymous with Bulbothricella V.Marcano, S.Mohali & A.Morales,[1] and with Bulborrhizina Kurok..[2]

Description

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Bulbothrix develops a foliose (leafy) thallus that lies closely attached (adnate) to the bark or rock it inhabits. Its lobes are narrow to moderately broad and usually press against one another, though in a few species such as B. isidiza they may overlap slightly. Along the lobe edges run short, bulb-tipped hairs called cilia, a feature that gives the genus its name. The upper surface is grey because it contains atranorin, a common lichen product, and may show pale blotches (maculae); some species bear tiny outgrowths (isidia) or small side lobes, but none produce soredia (powdery propagules) or pores for gas exhange (pseudocyphellae). Microscopically the upper cortex consists of a palisade of tightly packed fungal cells coated by a thin, perforated epicortex, and the cell walls contain the rare polysaccharide isolichenan. Beneath this, a loosely woven white—or occasionally pigmented—medulla stores nutrients, while the pale tan to black undersurface anchors itself with simple to repeatedly branched root-like rhizines that match the background colour.

Sexual reproduction occurs in apothecia that sit on the thallus surface and are either somewhat stalked (subpedicellate) or directly attached. Their cup-shaped discs are unperforated, range from pale to dark brown, and may be ringed by small black swellings (bulbae) embedded in the rim, though in some species this corona is absent. Each ascus contains eight ellipsoidal or occasionally curved, two-horned (bicornute) ascospores measuring roughly 6–15 × 4–8 μm. Asexual propagules are generated in flask-shaped pycnidia, either sunken in the thallus or raised on the same bulbae that flank the apothecia; these structures release slender, spindle-shaped conidia about 5–9 × 1 μm that disperse the fungal partner alone. Chemical tests detect a suite of secondary metabolites—including sphaerophorin, various β-orcinol depsidones, usnic acid, and dibenzofuran derivatives.

Species

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Hale accepted 29 species of Bulbothrix in his original circumscription of the genus in 1976. As of July 2025, Species Fungorum (in the Catalogue of Life) accept 37 species of Bulbothrix.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Record Details: Bulbothricella V. Marcano, Mohali & A. Morales, in Marcano, Mohali & Palacio, Lichenologist 28(5): 422 (1996)". Index Fungorum. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  2. ^ a b Kirika, Paul M.; Leavitt, Steven D.; Divakar, Pradeep K.; Crespo, Ana; Gatheri, Grace W.; Mugambi, George; Lumbsch, H. Thorsten (2015). "The monotypic genus Bulborrhizina belongs to Bulbothrix sensu lato (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycota)". The Bryologist. 118 (2): 164–169. doi:10.1639/0007-2745-118.2.164.
  3. ^ Marcano, Vicente; Mohali, Sari; Palacios-Prü, Ernesto; Morales Méndez, Antonio (1996). "The lichen genus Bulbothricella, a new segregate in the Parmeliaceae from Venezuela". The Lichenologist. 28 (5): 421–430. doi:10.1006/lich.1996.0040.
  4. ^ Hale, M.E. (1974). "Bulbothrix, Parmelina, Relicina and Xanthoparmelia, four new genera in the Parmeliaceae". Phytologia. 28 (5): 479–490.
  5. ^ "Bulbothrix". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
  6. ^ Zhang, Yan Yun; Wang, Xin Yu; Liu, Dong; Li, Jian Wen; Shi, Hai Xia; Ye, Xin; Wang, Li Song (2014). "Bulbothrix asiatica sp. nov., and other new records of Parmeliaceae with bulbate cilia from Cambodia". The Bryologist. 117 (4): 379–385. doi:10.1639/0007-2745-117.4.379.
  7. ^ Hale, M.E. (1986). "New species in the lichen family Parmeliaceae (Ascomycotina)". Mycotaxon. 25 (1): 85–93.
  8. ^ Bungartz, Frank; Benatti, Michel N.; Spielmann, Adriano A. (2013). "The genus Bulbothrix (Parmeliaceae, Lecanoromycetes) in the Galapagos Islands: a case study of superficially similar, but overlooked macrolichens". The Bryologist. 116 (4): 358–372. doi:10.1639/0007-2745-116.4.358.
  9. ^ a b c d e Benatti, M.N. (2012). "Three resurrected species of the genus Bulbothrix Hale (Parmeliaceae, lichenized fungi)". Mycosphere. 3 (1): 46–55. doi:10.5943/mycosphere/3/1/5.
  10. ^ a b c d Jungbluth, P.; Marcelli, M.P.; Elix, J.A. (2008). "Five new species of Bulbothrix (Parmeliaceae) from cerrado vegetation in São Paulo State, Brazil". Mycotaxon. 104: 51–63.
  11. ^ Masson, Didier; Benatti, Michel N.; Sérusiaux, Emmanuël (2015). "The description of a new species reveals underestimated diversity in the lichen genus Bulbothrix (Parmeliaceae) in Africa". The Lichenologist. 47 (5): 323–334. doi:10.1017/s0024282915000237.
  12. ^ Elix, J.A. (1995). "New species in the lichen family Parmeliaceae (Ascomycotina) from Australasia and Malaysia". Mycotaxon. 56: 231–241.
  13. ^ Elix, J.A. (1993). "New species in the lichen family Parmeliaceae (Ascomycotina) from Australia". Mycotaxon. 47: 101–129.
  14. ^ a b Benatti, M.N. (2012). "New species of Bulbothrix Hale containing gyrophoric acid from Brazil". Mycology. 3 (2): 127–131.
  15. ^ Aptroot, A.; Aubel, R.J.M.T. van (1999). "Bulbothrix sipmanii, a new lichen species from Guyana". Mycotaxon. 71: 139–140.
  16. ^ Spielmann, A.A.; Marcelli, M.P. (2008). "Bulbothrix viatica, a new species of Parmeliaceae from Brazil". Mycotaxon. 103: 201–205.
  17. ^ Wang, S.L.; Chen, J.B.; Elix, J.A. (2000). "New species of Parmeliaceae (lichenized Ascomycotina) from China". Mycotaxon. 76: 293–298.
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