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.
Melanohalea is a genus of foliose lichens in the family Parmeliaceae. It contains 30 mostly Northern Hemisphere species that grow on bark or on wood. The genus is characterized by the presence of pseudocyphellae, usually on warts or on the tips of isidia, a non-pored epicortex and a medulla containing depsidones or lacking secondary compounds. Melanohalea was circumscribed in 2004 as a segregate of the morphologically similar genus Melanelia.
Melanelixia is a genus of foliose lichens in the family Parmeliaceae. It contains 15 Northern Hemisphere species that grow on bark or on wood. The genus is characterized by a pored or fenestrate epicortex, and the production of lecanoric acid as the primary chemical constituent of the medulla. Melanelixia was circumscribed in 2004 as a segregate of the related genus Melanelia.
Tuckermanella is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Parmeliaceae.
Emodomelanelia is a lichen genus in the family Parmeliaceae. It is monotypic, containing the single foliose Himalayan species Emodomelanelia masonii.
Melanohalea zopheroa is a species of lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It was first formally described in 1977 by Ted Esslinger as Parmelia zopheroa. A year later, he transferred it to the new genus Melanelia, which he created to contain the brown Parmeliae species. In 2004, after early molecular phylogenetic evidence showed that Melanelia was not monophyletic, Melanohalea was circumscribed by lichenologists Oscar Blanco, Ana Crespo, Pradeep K. Divakar, Esslinger, David L. Hawksworth and H. Thorsten Lumbsch, and M. zopheroa was transferred to it. The lichen has a disjunct distribution, as it is found in South America (Chile) and in New Zealand.
Melanohalea ushuaiensis is a species of lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It was first formally described in 1917 by Alexander Zahlbruckner as Parmelia ushuaiensis. Ted Esslinger transferred to the new genus Melanelia in 1978, which he circumscribed to contain the brown parmeliae species. In 2004, it was moved to the newly created genus Melanohalea. It is endemic to South America.
Melanohalea trabeculata is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It was first formally described by Finnish lichenologist Teuvo Ahti in 1966 as Parmelia trabeculata. Ted Esslinger transferred the species to the new genus Melanelia in 1978, which he circumscribed to contain the brown parmeliae species. In 2004, it was moved to the newly circumscribed genus Melanohalea.
Melanohalea tahltan is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It was described as a new species in 2016. The species named honours the indigenous Tahltan people that live in northern regions of the Canadian province British Columbia.
Melanohalea austroamericana is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It was described as a new species in 2016. The lichen is known only from two specimens collected in Chile's Laguna del Laja National Park, where they were discovered growing on bark in a forest of Chilean cedar. The specific epithet austroamericana refers to its South American distribution.
Melanohalea clairi is a species of lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It was described as a new species in 2016. It is known from only two locations in the United States. The type specimen was collected from the White River National Forest in Colorado, in juniper-oak mountainous shrubland. Here it was found growing on Gambel oak. It has also been collected from the Wasatch Front in central Utah, where it was recorded on bigtooth maple. The lichen is morphologically similar to Melanohalea subolivacea, but is genetically distinct from that species.
Melanohalea columbiana is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It was described as a new species in 2016. The type was collected at the Rock Creek of the Channeled Scablands, where it was found growing on a species of hawthorne. The specific epithet columbiana refers to its occurrence in the Columbia River drainage basin and Columbian Plateau. The lichen has been recorded from Idaho, Washington, Central Oregon, and a single locale in the Peninsular Ranges in Southern California. It is morphologically similar to Melanohalea multispora, but is genetically distinct from that species.
Melanohalea davidii is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It was described as a new species in 2016. The type was collected by Ana Crespo in the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park in the province of Cádiz, Spain, where it was found growing on cluster pine. In addition to the type locality, it has also been recorded from Selas in the province of Guadalajara. The specific epithet davidii honours lichenologist David Leslie Hawksworth. The lichen is morphologically similar to Melanohalea exasperata, but is genetically distinct from that species.
Melanohalea mexicana is a species of lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. Found in Mexico, it was described as a new species in 2010 by Ted Esslinger and Rosa Emilia Pérez-Pérez. Within the genus Melanohalea, molecular phylogenetic analysis places it in the "subolivacea" group, which includes the species M. subolivacea and M. clairi.
Melanohalea nilgirica is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. Found in India, it was described as a new species in 2005 by lichenologists Pradeep Divakar and Dalip Kumar Upreti. The type was collected from the Nilgiri Hills in Tamil Nadu, at an elevation of 2,000 m (6,600 ft). Its thallus is about 6 cm (2.4 in) in diameter, with a reddish-brown to dark brown upper surface. It is characterized by flat, dot-like pseudocyphellae that are flush with the lobe surface, white capitate soralia, and presence of caperatic acid. This is the only known occurrence of this compound in the genus Melanohalea.
Melanohalea subexasperata is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. Found in China, it was formally described as a new species in 2010 by Fan-Ge Meng and Hai-Ying Wang. The type was collected from Tianshenqiao, Shangri-La City, at an altitude of 3,500 m (11,500 ft). The lichen is distributed in the southeast of the Tibetan Plateau at elevations of 2,700–3,500 m (8,900–11,500 ft). It is the only species of Melanohalea with cortical hairs. The lichen is named for its resemblance to Melanohalea exasperata.
Melanohalea subverruculifera is a species of lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. Found in China, it was first formally described as a new species in 1980 as Parmelia subverruculifera. It was transferred to the segregate genus Melanelia in 1991, and then to the genus Melanohalea in 2004.
Melanohalea subelegantula is a species of lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It is found in North America, where it grows on bark and wood. The lichen was first formally described as Parmelia subelegantula by Ted Esslinger in 1977. A year later he transferred it to the segregate genus Melanelia. In 2004, it was moved to the newly circumscribed genus Melanohalea. Named for its resemblance to Melanohalea elegantula, it can be distinguished from that species by its slightly flattened, but not hollow, isidia.
Melanohalea elegantula, commonly known as the elegant camouflage lichen, is a species of lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It was first described by Alexander Zahlbruckner in 1894 as Parmelia aspidota var. elegantula. Hungarian lichenologist Ödön Szatala promoted it to full species status, as Parmelia elegantula, in 1930. Ted Esslinger transferred it to the genus Melanelia in 1978. Finally, it was assigned to the newly circumscribed genus Melanohalea in 2004.
Philippe Clerc is a Swiss lichenologist. A Festschrift was dedicated to him in 2020, on the occasion of his retirement from the Conservatory and Botanical Garden of the City of Geneva, where he worked from 1993 to 2020. Clerc is an authority on the beard lichens, and has had nearly 100 publications on this and other topics, such as the lichen flora of Switzerland.
