Melaspilea lentiginosa (Lyell ex Leight.) Müll. Arg.

    Lichenicolous lichen, thallus immersed in host thallus, smooth, continuous, whitish, white. Apothecia very numerous, dotted and scattered over the thallus, highly variable in shape, oblong, ellipsoid, lirelliform, coma-shaped, small, 0.1-0.5 x 0.1-0.2 mm, black. Ascospores brown, 1-septate, 10-15 x 5-8 µm. Chemical spot tests negative, at least theoretically, but influenced by persistent host colours: C-,K+ yellow > red, KC+ red, Pd +/- yellow-orange. Parasite of Phaeographis dentritica, the parasitism begins with a small rounded area which quickly spreads over the entire thallus, eliminating the apothecia of the host to, in the end, give a finely punctuated thallus without the characteristic apothecia of Phaeographis dentritica and at this stage difficult to recognize for a lichenologist who has never seen this species. Species much rarer than its host and whose distribution is limited and does not cover that of Phaeographis dentritica.