Verrucariaceae is a family of lichens and a few non-lichenised fungi in the order Verrucariales. The lichens have a wide variety of thallus forms, from crustose (crust-like) to foliose (bushy) and squamulose (scaly). Most of them grow on land, some in freshwater and a few in the sea. Many are free-living but there are some species that are parasites on other lichens, while one marine species always lives together with a leafy green alga.
Several characteristics of the spore-bearing structures, the ascomata, define the family, including their perithecioid form–more or less spherical or flask-shaped, with a single opening and otherwise completely enclosed by a wall. Squamulose members of the Verrucariaceae with simple ascospores (lacking partitions called septa), and without algae in the spore-bearing region are known as catapyrenioid lichens; there are more than 80 of these species. The family has several dozen lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling) examples, including a few genera that contain solely lichenicolous members. An unusually diverse variety of photobiont partners have been recorded, mostly green algae, but also brown algae and yellow-green algae.
The family, circumscribed nearly two centuries ago, now includes 56 genera and about one thousand species, and is the third-largest family of lichen-forming fungi. Most diversity occurs in temperate climates of the Northern Hemisphere. Rocks and soil are the most common substrates for the Verrucariaceae, with growth on wood, bark, and leaves less common. Several species are components of biological soil crusts and contribute to the formation and stabilisation of soil. Some semi-aquatic lichens occur in this family, including about two dozen species of marine lichens. Traditionally, Verrucariaceae species have been grouped into genera based largely on the growth form of the thallus, and on the septation of the spores. Molecular phylogenetics research conducted in the past couple of decades has helped to clarify the phylogenetic framework of the family, but many genera remain poorly investigated.
^Cannon & Kirk 2007, pp. 438–456.
^Cite error: The named reference Pérez-Ortega et al. 2010 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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