Erik Acharius was a Swedish botanist who pioneered the taxonomy of lichens and is known as the "father of lichenology." Acharius was famously the last pupil of Carl Linnaeus.
Parmelia is a genus of medium to large foliose lichens. It has a global distribution, extending from the Arctic to the Antarctic continent but concentrated in temperate regions. There are about 40 species in Parmelia. In recent decades, the once large genus Parmelia has been divided into a number of smaller genera according to thallus morphology and phylogenetic relatedness.
The Parmeliaceae is a large and diverse family of Lecanoromycetes. With over 2700 species in 71 genera, it is the largest family of lichen-forming fungi. The most speciose genera in the family are the well-known groups: Xanthoparmelia, Usnea, Parmotrema, and Hypotrachyna.
The Peltigeraceae are a family of lichens in the order Peltigerales. The Peltigeraceae, which contains 15 genera and about 600 species, has recently (2018) been emended to include the families Lobariaceae and Nephromataceae. Many Peltigeraceae species have large and conspicuous, leathery thalli. They largely occur in cool-temperate to tropical montane climates. Tripartite thalli involving fungus, green algae and cyanobacteria are common in this family.
The Physciaceae are a family of mostly lichen-forming fungi belonging to the class Lecanoromycetes in the division Ascomycota. A 2016 estimate placed 19 genera and 601 species in the family.
Vulpicida is a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Parmeliaceae. Circumscribed in 1993 to contain species formerly placed in Cetraria, the genus is widespread in Arctic to northern temperate regions, and contains six species. The genus is characterized by the presence of the secondary metabolites pulvinic acid and vulpinic acid, compounds that when combined with usnic acid, give the species their characteristic yellow and green colors.
The Trypetheliaceae are a family of mainly lichen-forming fungi in the order Trypetheliales. The family consists almost exclusively of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichens with an almost strictly tropical distribution.
Everniopsis is a fungal genus in the family Parmeliaceae. It consists of a single species, the bark-dwelling lichen Everniopsis trulla, which occurs in Africa and South America.
Menegazzia cincinnata is a species of foliose lichen from southern South America. It was first scientifically described by Swedish lichenologist Erik Acharius as Parmelia cincinnata. Friedrich August Georg Bitter transferred it to the genus Menegazzia in 1901.
Anzia is a genus of foliose lichens known as black-foam lichens in the large family Parmeliaceae. It was formerly included in the monogeneric family Anziaceae, but this has since been subsumed into the Parmeliaceae.
Coelopogon is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Parmeliaceae. The genus contains two species found in southern South America and South Africa.
Himantormia is a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Parmeliaceae. The genus, which contains two species, is found in Antarctica. The genus was circumscribed by British lichenologist Elke Mackenzie in 1964.
Parmelia saxatilis, commonly known as the salted shield lichen or crottle, is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. Several morphologically similar species, formerly lumped together, are now distinguished by their DNA.
Cetraria aculeata or the spiny Iceland lichen is a dark brown to black fruticose, soil Iceland lichen from the family Parmeliaceae. The species was first described by German naturalist Johann Christian Daniel Edler von Schreber in 1771 under the name of Lichen aculeatus. Later on, Erik Acharius, the "father of lichenology" gave it a name of Cornicularia aculeata, which lately has been changed to Coelocaulon aculeatum. Finally, the taxonomic revision of Ingvar Kärnefelt and colleagues assigned the species to the genus Cetraria.
Aquacidia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Pilocarpaceae. It has three species, which occur in Europe and North America. The genus was circumscribed in 2018 by André Aptroot to contain a small group of Bacidia species that formed a distinct lineage in the Pilocarpaceae. The type species is Aquacidia trachona, a lichen that was originally described in 1803 by Erik Acharius as Verrucaria trachona. The genus name Aquacidia refers to the habitat of the species, which is typically on rocks near water. Lichens in this genus can form thalli that cover vast areas of substrate. For example, in Holland, the lichens can form large colonies in sheltered rock crevices between boulders in dikes.
Parmelia omphalodes is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It is one of the several dozen lichen species first described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus. Swedish lichenologist Erik Acharius transferred it to the genus Parmelia in 1803. The lichen is widely distributed, having been recorded in Asia, Africa, Europe, and North and South Americas. Morphologically similar–but genetically distinct–species include Parmelia discordans and P. pinnatifida.
Bathelium is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Trypetheliaceae.
Dufourea is a genus of mostly foliose lichen species in the subfamily Xanthorioideae of the family Teloschistaceae. Species in the genus are mostly found in the Southern Hemisphere.
Gowardia nigricans, commonly known as the gray hair lichen or gray witch's hair, is a species of fruticose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae.
Nigrovothelium is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Trypetheliaceae. It has three species. The genus was circumscribed in 2016 by lichenologists Robert Lücking, Matthew Nelsen, and André Aptroot, to contain species formerly in the Trypethelium tropicum species group. The type species, Nigrovothelium tropicum, was originally described by Erik Acharius in 1810, as a species of Verrucaria.
