The Teloschistaceae are a large family of mostly lichen-forming fungi belonging to the class Lecanoromycetes in the division Ascomycota. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, although members occur predominantly in subtropical and temperate regions. Most members are lichens that either live on rock or on bark, but about 40 species are lichenicolous – meaning they are non-lichenised fungi that live on other lichens. Many members of the Teloschistaceae are readily identifiable by their vibrant orange to yellow hue, a result of their frequent anthraquinone content. The presence of these anthraquinone pigments, which confer protection from ultraviolet light, enabled this group to expand from shaded forest habitats to harsher environmental conditions of sunny and arid ecosystems during the Late Cretaceous.
Igneoplaca is a genus in the subfamily Xanthorioideae of the family Teloschistaceae. It contains a single species, the crustose lichen Igneoplaca ignea.
Kaernefia is a genus of crustose lichens in the family Teloschistaceae. It has three species, found in Australia or South Africa.
Filsoniana is a genus of squamulose lichens in the family Teloschistaceae. It has six species. It was circumscribed in 2013 by Ingvar Kärnefelt, Arne Thell, Jae-Seoun Hur, Sergey Kondratyuk, and John Elix following a molecular phylogenetic analysis of the Teloschistaceae. The generic name honours Australian lichenologist Rex Filson, "in recognition of his contribution to lichenology, in particular to the lichen flora of Australia".
Huneckia is a genus of crustose lichens in the subfamily Caloplacoideae of the family Teloschistaceae. It has four species.
Neobrownliella is a genus of crustose lichens in the subfamily Teloschistoideae of the family Teloschistaceae. It has five species. The genus was circumscribed in 2015 by lichenologists Sergey Kondratyuk, Jack Elix, Ingvar Kärnefelt, and Arne Thell, with Neobrownliella brownlieae assigned as the type species. It is a segregate of the large genus Caloplaca. Characteristics of Neobrownliella include a thallus that is continuous or areolate, the presence of anthraquinones as lichen products, a cortical layer with a palisade paraplectenchyma, and the lack of a thick palisade cortical layer on the underside of the thalline exciple. Two species were included in the original circumscription of the genus; an additional three species were added in 2020.
Wetmoreana is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It has two crustose, saxicolous (rock-dwelling) species.
Gallowayella hasseana, the poplar sunburst lichen, is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It occurs in North America.
Cerothallia yarraensis is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. Found in Australia, it was formally described as a new species in 2009 by lichenologists Sergey Kondratyuk and Ingvar Kärnefelt, as Caloplaca yarraensis. Kondratyuk and colleagues transferred it to the genus Cerothallia in 2014.
Gallowayella montana is a species of corticolous (bark-dwelling) lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It occurs in North America.
Marchantiana is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It contains seven species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichens that occur in the Southern Hemisphere.
Verrucoplaca is a monotypic fungal genus in the family Teloschistaceae. It contains the single species Verrucoplaca verruculifera, a widely distributed saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen that grows on coastal rocks.
Eilifdahlia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It contains three species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichens that occur in the Southern Hemisphere.
Franwilsia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It has three species.
Filsoniana australiensis is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is found in Australia. The lichen forms patches up to 9 cm wide, with dull pink to brownish pink lobes and a verrucose central area. It has distinctive, raised reddish-orange apothecia.
Filsoniana rexfilsonii is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. Found in Australia, it was formally described as a new species in 2007. The thallus of Filsoniana rexfilsonii comprises brownish-orange squamules each hosting one to four reproductive structures.
Neobrownliella montisfracti is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is found in Australia. The small lichen has dull pink to grey areoles, characterised by completely immersed, reddish to pink-brown apothecia and lacking soredia and isidia. Its areoles are closely pressed against the substrate, with the apothecia containing small, elongated ascospores and narrowly rod-shaped conidia.
Sirenophila cliffwetmorei is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is found in Australia. Its thallus can reach up to 1 centimetre in width, has a whitish to whitish-grey colour, and is very thin, sometimes almost merging with the substrate, and has paler edges with a darker grey centre. Its numerous tiny apothecia give the thallus a yellow-orange appearance.
Franwilsia bastowii is a species of ramicolous (twig-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. Found in Australia, it was formally described as a new species in 2009 by lichenologists Sergey Kondratyuk and Ingvar Kärnefelt. It was transferred to the genus Franwilsia in 2014. The species epithet bastowii honours the Scottish naturalist Richard Austin Bastow, who collected the type specimen in Mornington in 1901. The lichen is known to occur in Western Australia, South Australia, and Victoria, where it grows on the twigs of various shrubs and trees.
Filsoniana ferdinandmuelleri is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichen in the family Teloschistaceae. It is found in Australia. The lichen has a squamulose (scaly) thallus, with a range of bright yellow to greenish-yellow and brownish-orange colours in its soredia and apothecia, respectively. The areoles of this lichen are varied in size, slightly raised from the thallus surface, and each carries one to four apothecia. The soralia are rounded or irregularly shaped, covering most of the thallus surface as a yellow to greenish-yellow mass. The apothecia have dark brownish-orange discs, surrounded by slightly paler yellow margins, with the spore-bearing asci containing typically eight brownish-golden ascospores.
