Malmidea cineracea is a little-known species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Malmideaceae. It is found in Nicaragua.
The lichen was formally described as a new species in 2015 by the lichenologists Othmar Breuss and Robert Lücking. The type specimen was collected by the first author from a Caribbean lowland rainforest in the Indio MaÃÂz Biological Reserve (San Juan River). The name of the species, cineracea, translates to "ash-greyish", and alludes to the colour of the margins of its apothecia.
Malmidea cineracea grows on bark and has a - texture with a greenish-grey colour, appearing dull on a whitish, fibrous base layer, and is about 150âÂÂ200 üm thick. The individual range from 70 to 150 üm in diameter, and their cortex, which is colourless, measures 10 to 15 üm thick. The photobiont is , forming spherical or flattened groups of 30 to 60 üm in diameter, and consists of cells 6 to 8 üm in diameter. The medulla of the lichen has a yellowish hue and does not react to a solution of potassium hydroxide (KâÂÂ).
The apothecia, or fruiting bodies, are sessile and range from 0.5 to 1.1 mm in diameter and 0.20 to 0.35 mm in height. They are typically rounded but can be slightly irregular, with a flat that is grey-brown to brown. The margin is smooth, pale brownish grey, distinct but not prominently raised, and about 0.1 mm wide. The is compact, with a hyaline outer layer (10âÂÂ30 üm) and an inner layer densely encrusted with yellowish-brown , which turn pale greenish-yellow when treated with potassium hydroxide. The is 10âÂÂ20 üm high and brownish, while the is dark brown to brownish black, 100âÂÂ150 üm deep, and does not react to potassium hydroxide. The hymenium is approximately 80 üm high, hyaline, and turns blue when stained with iodine; it contains simple paraphyses that are not thickened at the tips. The asci are narrowly (club-shaped), measuring 60âÂÂ70 by 12âÂÂ16 üm, with a thickened apical wall but no visible internal structure. There are typically 6 to 8 ascospores per ascus, measuring 12âÂÂ15 by 6âÂÂ8 üm, ellipsoidal with somewhat pointed ends, and surrounded by a that is 0.5âÂÂ1.0 üm thick.
No conidiomata have been observed to occur in this species, and thin-layer chromatography reveals no substances except for thin bands of terpenoids, likely originating from the bark. Standard chemical spot tests on the thallus and excipulum are all negative.
Malmidea cineracea is similar to Malmidea furfurosa, but can be distinguished by its pale apothecial margins (as opposed to black in M. furfurosa), an excipulum that contains crystals but no medullary tissue, and a yellowish medulla.
Malmidea attenboroughii, which also has a granulose-isidiate thallus, bears a morphological resemblance to Malmidea cineracea. The former species, found in the Amazon rainforest of Bolivia, can be distinguished by its abraded margin, which internally contains yellowish-brown granules that are unreactive when treated with potassium hydroxide (KâÂÂ).
Malmidea cineracea has been exclusively observed growing on the bark of trees in a lowland rainforest, with its presence limited to Nicaragua. It is one of five Malmidea species that occur in that country.