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 Mycocaliciaceae are a family of seven genera and about 90 species of fungi in the order Mycocaliciales.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Melanohalea subolivacea, commonly known as the brown-eyed camouflage lichen, is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae.
Punctelia rudecta, commonly known as the rough speckled shield or the speckleback lichen, is a North American species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. This species can be readily identified by the light color of the thallus underside, the relatively large lobes at the edges of the thallus, and the tiny white pores present on the top of the thallus that are characteristic of the genus Punctelia. The lichen is quite abundant and widespread in the eastern and southeastern United States, although it also occurs in Canada and northern Mexico, but is less common in these regions. The lichen usually grows on bark, and less commonly on shaded rocks. There are several lookalike Punctelia species; these can often be distinguished from P. rudecta by differences in distribution or in the nature of the reproductive structures present on the thallus.
Punctelia guanchica is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae that is only known from the Canary Islands. It is similar in appearance and morphology to the North American Punctelia rudecta, and was historically misidentified as that species until molecular phylogenetic evidence showed it to be a distinct species. It differs in having thicker isidia that develop from the centre of the pseudocyphellae, and it mainly grows on rocks.
Punctelia bolliana, the eastern speckled shield lichen, is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It is found in North America, with a distribution extending from the Canadian province of Ontario south to the central and northeastern United States and Mexico. It grows on the bark of both deciduous trees and coniferous trees. The combination of characteristics that distinguishes this species from others in genus Punctelia are the absence of the vegetative propagules isidia and soralia, a pale brown lower thallus surface, and the presence of the secondary chemical protolichesterinic acid in the medulla.
Punctelia subflava is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae that occurs in Australia.
Punctelia stictica is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It is widely distributed lichen, recorded in Africa, Europe, North America, South America, and Greenland. It is typically found growing on rocks.
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 rojoi is a species of foliose (leafy), saxicolous (rock-dwelling) lichen in the large family Parmeliaceae. It is known to occur in a couple of humid forests in southern Spain. It is quite similar in appearance to the more widespread Parmelia saxatilis, but has a more fragile thallus and smaller isidia.
