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.
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.
Parmotrema is a genus of lichen belonging to the family Parmeliaceae. It is a large genus, containing an estimated 300 species, with a centre of diversity in subtropical regions of South America and the Pacific Islands.
Punctelia is a genus of foliose lichens belonging to the large family Parmeliaceae. The genus, which contains about 50 species, was segregated from genus Parmelia in 1982. Characteristics that define Punctelia include the presence of hook-like to thread-like conidia, simple rhizines, and point-like pseudocyphellae. It is this last feature that is alluded to in the vernacular names speckled shield lichens or speckleback lichens.
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.
Crespoa is a genus of five species of lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. Species in this genus are characterized by having an upper thallus surface that is wrinkled and reticulately ridged to coarsely foveolate.
Nipponoparmelia is a genus of five species of lichen belonging to the family Parmeliaceae. Nipponoparmelia was originally conceived by Syo Kurokawa as a subgenus of the genus Parmelia in 1994. It was raised to generic status in 2010. Four east Asian species were originally placed in the genus; Nipponoparmelia perplicata, found in South Korea and Russia, was added in 2014.
Emodomelanelia is a lichen genus in the family Parmeliaceae. It is monotypic, containing the single foliose Himalayan species Emodomelanelia masonii.
Notoparmelia is a genus of foliose lichens in the family Parmeliaceae. It includes 18 species that grow on bark and rocks, and are mostly distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The genus was created in 2014 as a segregate of Parmelia.
Austromelanelixia is a genus of five species of foliose lichens in the family Parmeliaceae. All species are found in the Southern Hemisphere.
Punctelia toxodes is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. The lichen is a member of the Punctelia rudecta species complex. Found in South Africa, it was first formally described as a new species by English botanist James Stirton in 1878 as Parmelia toxodes. Klaus Kalb and Manuela Götz transferred it to the genus Punctelia in 2007. In his 1878 publication, Stirton did not designate a type specimen, so an epitype was designated in a 2016 publication. This epitype was collected from the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa, on Paarl Mountain at an altitude of 530 m (1,740 ft). The lichen grows on bark and on rocks.
Punctelia subflava is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae that occurs in Australia.
Parmelia ambra is a fossilised species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. Found in Dominican amber and described as a new species in 2000, the fossil has been used in subsequent studies of lichen evolution.
Parmelia mayi is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It is found in the northern Appalachian Mountains of eastern North America, where it grows on rocks and on the trunks of paper birch and balsam fir. Parmelia mayi is morphologically indistinguishable from Parmelia saxatilis, but is distinct in its distribution, chemistry, and genetics.
Parmelia barrenoae is a species of foliose lichen in the large family Parmeliaceae. It was formally described as a new species in 2005. Before this, it was lumped together as one of several lichens in the Parmelia sulcata group—a species complex of genetically distinct lookalikes. Parmelia barrenoae is widely distributed, occurring in Europe, western North America, Africa, and Asia.
Parmelia fraudans is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It is found in Europe and North America, where it grows on rocks.
Parmelia imbricaria is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. Found in western Canada, it was formally described as a new species in 2017 by Trevor Goward, Pradeep Kumar Divakar, María del Carmen Molina, and Ana Crespo. The type specimen was collected by Goward near the Clearwater River drainage, where it was found at an altitude of 700 m (2,300 ft) growing on a basalt boulder. The specific epithet refers to the "imbricate" lobes of the thallus. The lichen occurs in western Canada, with a range including southern Yukon and extending south to southern inland British Columbia. The European Parmelia pinatifida is a closely related species.
Parmelina quercina is a species of foliose lichen in the large family Parmeliaceae. It is found in continental Europe.
Parmelia isidiiveteris is a fossilised species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It was found in Dominican amber and described as a new species in 2000. It was tentatively placed in the genus Parmelia although its true generic placement is difficult to determine with only a single specimen available for analysis.
