Syncesia afromontana

Syncesia afromontana is a rare species of byssoid lichen in the family Roccellaceae. Found in Rwanda, it was formally described as a new species in 2010 by Damien Ertz, Dorothee Killmann, Emmanuël Sérusiaux, and Eberhard Fischer. The type specimen was collected in the Rwasenkoko swamp area of Nyungwe National Park (Southern Province) at an altitude of 2335 m. It is only known to occur at the type locality, where it grows on the trunks of Erica in thickets of Erica johnstonii as well as in forests of Hagenia abyssinica and Rapanea melanophloeios. The lichen has a byssoid (wispy, like teased wool), water-repellent thallus that is greyish to greyish-green and up to 10 cm in diameter. It contains protocetraric acid as a major metabolite, and trace amounts of roccellic acid.