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Cladonia macilenta or the lipstick cup lichen[1] is a species of cup lichen in the family Cladoniaceae.[2]
| Cladonia macilenta | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Lecanorales |
| Family: | Cladoniaceae |
| Genus: | Cladonia |
| Species: | C. macilenta |
| Binomial name | |
| Cladonia macilenta Hoffm. (1796) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The species is red listed in Iceland as an endangered species (EN).[3] While it is found in various regions of the UK, it is considered potentially threatened in parts of the lowlands due to habitat loss.[4]
Verrucaster lichenicola, described by Friedrich Tobler in 1913,[5] was proposed to be a fungus with waxy pycnidia and hyaline conidia lacking septa. It was, however, a little-known taxon, as the type specimen was lost and not collected again. The rediscovery of the type material more than a century later revealed that what Tobler thought to be a lichenicolous fungus was instead pycnidia of Cladonia macilenta, and thus the two taxa are placed in synonymy.[6]
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Cladonia macilenta is small- to medium-sized amongst other Cladonia species and notably lacks cups even at maturity.[4] Typically, it is found in open or well-lit wooded areas and heathlands growing on strongly acidic wood and soil. It is often mistaken for Cladonia polydactyla,[4] because some morphs of that species can lack cups, particularly when pollution-stressed, shaded, or juvenile. But C. macilenta can be differentiated by coloration (C. macilenta is typically white or grey, while C. polydactyla is typically blue-grey) or by the reproductive structures (soredia) which are granular in C. polydactyla and more mealy (farinose) in C. macilenta.[4]
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