Monoblastiopsis konzana R.C.Harris & C.A.Morse

Description

Type: U.S.A. KANSAS. CHASE CO: 6.5 mi N, 2.5 mi W Strong City, Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve: N part, T18S R08E section 7 SW¼ & section 18 NW¼, 38.4908°N-38.4949°N 96.5872°W-96.5927°W, 1330-1400 ft, 8.xi.2005, Morse 12339 & Barnard (KANU 371963, holotype; KANU 371964, NY, isotypes).

Description: (from Harris & Morse 2008) - Ascomata globose, sessile, rarely forming shallow pits in limestone, black, slightly shiny, solitary or 2(-3) confluent, 0.2-0.35 mm in diameter, with conspicuous, open or sunken ostiole with short periphyses; ascomatal wall entire, ca. 40-60 µm thick. Asci cylindrical to ± clavate, initially with 8 spores but only (2-)4(-6) spores maturing. Ascospores ellipsoid to ± narrowly ellipsoid, weakly ornamented at maturity, 19-(24.7)-29 x 8-(10.5)-13 µm. Pycnidia common, globose. Conidia ca 3 x 1.5 µm.

Etymology: (from Harris & Morse 2008) - Monoblastiopsis refers to the superficial resemblance of members of the genus to Monoblastia. The epithet konzana is derived from an older name for the Kaw Indians, who once occupied the area in Kansas from which the species is presently known. The Kaw were removed from their land in the mid nineteenth century. Today, the Kaw Nation is headquartered in Kaw City, Oklahoma.

Distribution and ecology: (from Harris & Morse 2008) - Monoblastiopsis konzana is presently known from the Flint Hills and Central Irregular Plains (Chapman et al. 2001) of eastern Kansas, from the White River Hills of the Ozark Highlands (Chapman et al. 2002) in Missouri, and from central Uvalde County, Texas, at elevations of 800-1400 ft (245-440 m). Both members of the genus are small and easily overlooked, and probably more common than collection records would suggest. Specimens of M. konzana have mostly been taken as admixtures with other species, however, so it remains difficult to make more than general comments about its ecology. All specimens examined for this study were from limestone. The type was collected in Flint Hills tallgrass prairie, from exposed outcrops of Permian Crouse, Funston, or Threemile limestones. Elsewhere in the Flint Hills, specimens were taken from limestone gravel atop weathered outcrops of the Beattie, Bader, or Crouse limestones, and from weathered boulders of Fort Riley Limestone, all of Permian age. Further east in Kansas, in the Osage Cuestas and Wooded Osage Plains of the Central Irregular Plains, the species has been found in open, second-growth riparian forest on shaded, east-facing outcrops of Pennsylvanian Plattsburg Limestone, in second-growth upland forest on shaded, south-facing outcrops of Pennsylvanian Oread Limestone, and in prairie openings in disturbed sugar maple-basswood forest on boulders of limestone members of the Pennslyvanian Kansas City Group. The Missouri specimen was taken on shaded dolomite in oak-dominated hardwoods. The Texas specimen was collected from limestone of undetermined age in Tamaulipan thorn scrub at the northern edge of the Southern Texas Plains (Chapman et al. 2001). Associated species in exposed sites have included Aspicilia contorta (Hoffm.) Kremp., Bagliettoa baldensis (A. Massal) Gueidan & Roux, Caloplaca atroalba (Tuck.) Zahlbr., C. variabilis (Pers.) Müll. Arg., Collema texanum Tuck., Kozarus thelommopsis R. C. Harris & Ladd ined., Lecanora valesiaca (Müll. Arg.) Stizenb., Leptogium apalachense (Tuck.) Nyl., Pachyphysis ozarkana R. C. Harris & Ladd, Peltula obscurans (Nyl.) Gyel. var. deserticola (Zahlbr.) Wetm., Phaeophyscia squarrosa Kashiw., Psora pseudorussellii Timdal, Rinodina bischoffii (Hepp) A. Massal., and Sarcogyne regularis Körber. Associated species in shaded sites have included Bacidia coprodes (Körber) Lettau, Caloplaca citrina (Hoffm.) Th. Fr., C. flavovirescens (Wulfen) Dalla Torre & Sarnth., Lecania perproxima (Nyl.) Zahlbr., and Verrucaria fayettensis Servít.

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