Loflammia is a small genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Ectolechiaceae. The genus was established by the Czech lichenologist AntonÃÂn VÃÂzda in 1986 to accommodate a group of foliicolous (leaf-dwelling) lichens with distinctive reddish fruiting bodies. These lichens form small greyish-white crusts on the surfaces of living leaves in tropical forests, and are recognised by their bright carmine-red disc-shaped reproductive structures. Species are known from Central and South America, Africa, and Papua New Guinea.
Loflammia was established by AntonÃÂn VÃÂzda in 1986 as one of five new genera created to accommodate species formerly placed in Bacidia and Lopadium that shared a Sporopodium-type ascus structure. These generaâÂÂBadimia, Barubria, Calopadia, Loflammia, and LogilviaâÂÂwere separated from the informal "Lobaca" group that VÃÂzda had introduced in 1983, and all were included in the family Ectolechiaceae because of their characteristic (specialised conidiomata derived from apothecia).
VÃÂzda designated Loflammia flammea (originally Lopadium flammeum Müll.Arg.) as the type species, and recognised additional species such as L. gabrielis and L. intermedia, which had been discussed by Rolf Santesson in his 1952 monograph on foliicolous lichens. In his description, VÃÂzda noted that Loflammia is closely related to Sporopodium, Tapellaria, and Lasioloma, but can be distinguished from all of them by a combination of features: its reddish apothecia, a exciple (in which the rim tissue around the disc is composed of small, tightly packed cells) that turns yellow to red when treated with potassium hydroxide solution, and distinctive campylidia with red apices. These features, together with its foliicolous habit, were used by VÃÂzda to justify its recognition as a separate genus within the Ectolechiaceae.
Loflammia forms small, scattered (lichen bodies) that are greyish white and sometimes slightly glossy. The apothecia (disc-like fruiting bodies) are constricted at the base and have flat to slightly concave discs that range from dull reddish to carmine red, with a prominent bright-red margin. The rim tissue (excipulum) is (made of tightly packed, brick-like cells) and reacts yellow to red with potassium hydroxide solution (the K test). The layer beneath the hymenium, the , is reddish brown and also K+. The paraphyses (slender supporting filaments) are branched and anastomosing (interconnected). The asci are club-shaped (), have an amyloid (iodine-positive) blue-staining apex (), and show the Sporopodium-type structure. The ascospores are usually 3-septate, sometimes partly to fully (divided by both transverse and longitudinal walls).
The (specialised asexual fruiting structures) are similar in colour to the thallus, but with a red-tinted apex matching the apothecia. These produce , ellipsoid, single-celled conidia. VÃÂzda noted that in iodine preparations, the asci of Loflammia resemble those of Sporopodium during early development, though their internal (central cavity) is often difficult to discern. The genus is typified by Loflammia flammea, a species with conspicuously red-brown to crimson apothecia and muriform spores.
The proposed species Loflammia demoulinii, described 1986 by Emmanuël Sérusiaux from Papua New Guinea, was not validly published.