Gyalectidium conchiferum

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Gyalectidium conchiferum is a leaf-dwelling lichen-forming fungus found in the Valdivian temperate rainforest of southern Chile. It grows on living leaves as smooth, greenish-gray to green patches about 1–5 mm across. A distinctive feature is its mussel-shaped hyphophores (reproductive scales) that stand upright at the edge of the thallus and bend inward toward the edge. The scales are whitish, about 0.2–0.4 mm long and 0.3–0.4 mm wide. Hyphophores are involved in asexual reproduction, while apothecia and pycnidia have not been reported for this species. Gyalectidium conchiferum was described in 2001 by Robert Lücking and Volkmar Wirth from material collected on Volcán El Mocho near Choshuenco, around 100 km east of Valdivia, at 600–630 m elevation. It is distinguished from the similar smooth-thallus species Gyalectidium catenulatum by the shape and placement of its hyphophores. The species is currently known only from the Valdivian rainforest in southern Chile.