Type. [ANGOLA] Hab. Frequens ad Ficorum cortices prop Bango et Cambondo. Distr. Golungo Alto. Decbr. 1855, Welwitsch, Iter Angolense No. 447 (BM, lectotype selected in Laundon 1981).

Description. Lichenized fungus. Thallus leprose crust, greenish yellow to bright yellow, thin, consisting of +/- scattered soredia/granules in discontinuous to +/- continuous patches; granules 20–50 μm diam.; photobiont chlorococcoid alga. Ascomata very rare; arthonioid (lacking margin); disk yellow pruinose, ~0.2 mm diam. Ascospores hyaline, 3-septate, 10.5-12 x 2.5-3 μm. Pycnidia not seen.

Chemistry. Spot tests all negative; secondary metabolites: pinastric acid.

Substrate and Habitat. On bark, wood including palm trunks, rarely rock and moss in forests, woodlands and human-altered habitats.

Distribution. Cosmopolitan except Antarctica; in North Carolina found throughout.

Notes. Chrysothrix xanthina was proposed for IUCN Fungal Red List as Least Concern in 2020.

Literature

Hiern, W.P. & A.B. Rendle (1901) Catalogue of the African plants collected by Dr. Friedrich Welwitsch in 1853-61. 2(2):261-565 (original description as Lepraria xanthina).

Harris, R. C. & D. Ladd. (2008) The lichen genus Chrysothrix in the Ozark ecoregion, including a preliminary treatment for eastern and central North America. Opuscula Philolichenum 5: 29-42.

Kalb, K. (2001) New or otherwise interesting lichens. I. Bibliotheca Lichenologica 78: 141-167 (original description under current name).

Kukwa, M. & K. Knudsen (2011) Notes on the identity of Chrysothrix populations (Arthoniales, Ascomycota) containing pinastric acid from southern and central California. Mycotaxon 116: 407-411.

Laundon, J.R. (1981) The species of Chrysothrix. Lichenologist 13: 101-121.