Heppia
| Heppia | |
|---|---|
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| Heppia lutosa | |
| Scientific classification | |
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| Genus: | Heppia Nägeli ex A.Massal. (1854)
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| Type species | |
| Heppia adglutinata (Kremp.) A.Massal. (1854)
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| Synonyms[1] | |
Heppia is a genus of olive, brownish, gray, or blackish squamulose, crustose, or peltate lichens.[2] It is in the family Heppiaceae. It grows on rock or soil in arid sites around the world, in habitats similar to those favored by Peltula, which is similar but has a different cyanobacterium as the photobiont.[2] It lacks a medulla that is separate from the photobiont layer.[2] It is a cyanolichen with the photobiont cyanobacterium being Syctonema (or Syctonema-like).[2] The lower surface is paler than upper surface, and has numerous rhizoidal hyphae attaching it to the substrate.[2] The fruiting structures (ascomata) are apothecias immersed in the thallus with red to red-brown urn shaped (urceolate) to flat or slightly convex discs.[2] An exciple may or may not be present.[2]