Waynea cretica

Waynea cretica is a corticolous, squamulose lichen belonging to the family Ramalinaceae. It is primarily found on Crete, Greece, and in Portugal. The species was first described in 2006 by Esteve Llop, with its type specimen collected from the Diktamo gorge near Keramies, Chania, where it grows on a Cretan maple tree (Acer sempervirens) at an elevation of 100–200 meters.

The lichen has an olivaceous to greyish-green thallus with squamules measuring 0.125–0.75 mm wide and lacks a prothallus. Its photobiont partner is green algae, present in a layer beneath the hypothecium, consisting of spherical cells (5–10 μm in diameter). The medulla, composed of loosely interwoven hyphae, is 15 μm thick. Apothecia are biatorine-shaped, varying from whitish pink to greyish or reddish violet, with a diameter of 0.2–0.45 mm. Ascospores are needle-shaped, typically 7-septate, measuring 29–41 by 1.6–2.2 μm. The lichen contains the pigment Sedifolia-grey in its upper hymenium and exciple.

Waynea algarvensis, a similar species from Portugal, differs by having smaller thallus parts and squamules and is restricted to Quercus rotundifolia. Waynea cretica thrives in thermo- to meso-mediterranean habitats on Crete at elevations between 100–500 meters, typically in humid forested ravines and canyons. It grows on the bark of Acer sempervirens, Platanus orientalis, and Quercus coccifera. Since its discovery, it has also been recorded in several locations in Algarve, Portugal.