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Lichens with Bitunicate Asci

Abstract

THE division of the class Ascomycetes into the two sub-classes Ascomycetes and Loculoascomycetes in accordance with the ideas of Nannfeldt1 is now generally accepted. Characteristic of the sub-class Ascomycetes are the unitunicate ascus and true paraphyses, of the sub-class Loculoascomycetes the bitunicate ascus and paraphysoid filaments. Two British species belonging to genera the ascocarps of which were of unknown type are now found to belong to the Loculoascomycetes. They are Pyrenula nitida (Weig.) Ach. and Anthracothecium pyrenuloides (Mont.) Müll. Arg. These two species, typical of their genera, are notable for their brown thick-walled spores and are highly characteristic members of the Pyrenulaceae, a family which apart from these and closely related genera has been somewhat variously constituted by Zahlbruckner2, Watson3, and Hale4.

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References

  1. Nannfeldt, J. A., Nova Acta Reg. Soc. Sci. Upsal., Ser. 4, 8, 1 (1932).

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  2. Zahlbruckner, A., in Engler, A., and Prantl, K., Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien, 8, second ed. (Leipzig, 1926).

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SWINSCOW, T. Lichens with Bitunicate Asci. Nature 210, 852–853 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1038/210852b0

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