Tricharia variratae

Tricharia variratae is a foliicolous (leaf-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Gomphillaceae, described as a new species in 2005. The type was collected in Papua New Guinea (Central Province), Varirata National Park at 800 m elevation, from leaves in March 1987. The species appears closely related to Tricharia elegans and allied taxa, and it is very similar to Tricharia pallida, but is distinguished from that species (and other members of its genus) by its more or less umbelliform (nail-like) hyphophores. The thallus forms a greyish-green crust 5–20 mm across that is smooth, continuous, and without crystals, and it bears abundant black setae 0.7–1.0 mm long (40–50 μm thick at the base), with the tips often paler. The apothecia are not abundant. They are sessile, strongly constricted at the base with a short, thick stipe, and are regularly rounded (0.4–0.7 mm in diameter and 0.3–0.4 mm high), with a flat, pale yellowish-brown, translucent disc and a thin margin that is not to only ......read more on Wikipedia.