Cryptothecia is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of crustose lichen

Lichen

Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...

 in the Arthoniaceae

Arthoniaceae

The Arthoniaceae are a family of lichenized fungi in the order Pezizales. Species have a widespread distribution, but are especially prevalent in tropical areas. Collectively, the family has a highly variable ecology, some species lichenized with green algae, and others lichenicolous—growing on...

 family. The genus, thought to contain 75 species, has a widespread distribution, but is especially prevalent in tropical regions, with only two species being recognized in North America. It contains a green alga photobiont (Trentepohlia), and has a conspicuous prothallus that develops around its periphery which can be bright red in some species.

At least one species, Cryptothecia rubrocincta

Cryptothecia rubrocincta

Cryptothecia rubrocincta is a species of lichen in the Arthoniaceae family of fungi. The species is distributed in subtropical and tropical locations throughout the southeastern United States, as well as Central and South America, and has been collected infrequently in a few locales in Africa...

, has been used in Brazil as a source of dye.

External links

• Cryptothecia at Index Fungorum
  Index Fungorum
  Index Fungorum, an international project to index all formal names in the Fungi Kingdom. Somewhat comparable to the IPNI, but with more contributing institutions....