The Cladoniaceae are a family of lichen-forming fungi in the order Lecanorales. It is one of the largest families of lichen-forming fungi, with about 560 species distributed amongst 17 genera. The reindeer moss and cup lichens (Cladonia) belong to this family. The latter genus, which comprises about 500 species, forms a major part of the diet of large mammals in taiga and tundra ecosystems. Many Cladoniaceae lichens grow on soil, but others can use decaying wood, tree trunks, and, in a few instances, rocks as their substrate. They grow in places with high humidity, and cannot tolerate aridity.
The Baeomycetales are an order of mostly lichen-forming fungi in the subclass Ostropomycetidae, in the class Lecanoromycetes. It contains 8 families, 33 genera and about 170 species. As a result of molecular phylogenetics research published in the late 2010s, several orders were folded into the Baeomycetales, resulting in a substantial increase in the number of taxa.
Cladia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Cladoniaceae. Cladia species have a crustose or squamulose (scaly) primary thallus and a fruticose, secondary thallus, often referred to as pseudopodetium. The type species of the genus, Cladia aggregata, is widely distributed, occurring in South America, South Africa, Australasia and South-East Asia to southern Japan and India. Most of the other species are found in the Southern Hemisphere.
Cetradonia is a lichen genus in the family Cladoniaceae. A monotypic genus, Cetradonia contains the single species Cetradonia linearis. The genus was circumscribed in 2002 by Jiang-Chun Wei and Teuvo Ahti. The genus was once placed in the family Cetradoniaceae until that family was subsumed into the Cladoniaceae in 2006.
Carassea is a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Cladoniaceae. The genus was circumscribed in 2002 by Finnish lichenologist Soili Stenroos. A monotypic genus, Carassea contains the single species Carassea connexa. This species, originally named Cladonia connexa, was first documented by Edvard August Wainio, who collected specimens from Minas Gerais, Brazil, in 1885, and published a description of the species in the first of his three-volume Monographia Cladoniarum universalis. The Cladoniaceae genera most closely related to Carassea include Pycnothelia and Metus.
The Arctomiaceae are a family of lichenized fungi in the Ascomycota, class Baeomycetales. The family was named by Theodor Magnus Fries in 1861, with Arctomia as the type genus. Species in this family are found in arctic and subarctic habitats, usually associated with bryophytes.
Teuvo ("Ted") Tapio Ahti is a Finnish botanist and lichenologist. He has had a long career at the University of Helsinki that started in 1963, and then following his retirement in 1997, at the Botanical Museum of the Finnish Museum of Natural History. Known as a specialist of the lichen family Cladoniaceae, Ahti has published more than 280 scientific publications. A Festschrift was dedicated to him in 1994, and in 2000 he was awarded the prestigious Acharius Medal for lifetime contributions to lichenology.
Cladonia wainioi or the Wainio's cup lichen is a species of cup lichen found in boreal and arctic regions of the Russian Far East and northern North America.
Rexiella is a lichen genus in the family Cladoniaceae. The genus, originally circumscribed with the name Rexia by authors Soili Stenroos, Raquel Pino-Bodas, and Teuvo Ahti in 2018, was created to contain the species Cladonia sullivanii, first formally described in 1882 by Swiss botanist Johannes Müller Argoviensis. After publication of the new genus, it was discovered that the name was illegitimate, because an earlier homonym had been published; the generic name RexiaD.A.Casamatta, S.R.Gomez & J.R.Johansen had already been created in 2006 to contain the cyanobacterial species Rexia erecta. The new name Rexiella was therefore proposed in 2019. This name honours the Australian lichenologist Rex Filson, who published monographs on the genera Cladia and Heterodea.
Cladonia mitis is a species of fruticose lichen in the family Cladoniaceae. It was formally described as a new species in 1918 by German lichenologist Heinrich Sandstede. It has previously been classified in genus Cladina before molecular phylogenetic studies showed this to be a part of Cladonia. Cladonia mitis is morphologically quite similar to Cladonia arbuscula, and some authors have considered it to be a variety or subspecies of the latter. They differ mainly in the production of secondary compounds: Cladonia mitis produces chemicals in the rangiformic acid complex, which C. arbuscula does not.
Cladonia camerunensis is a species of lichen in the family Cladoniaceae. Found in Cameroon, it was formally described as a new species in 2016 by lichenologists Teuvo Ahti and Adam Flakus. The type specimen was collected on Minloua Mountain, west of Yaoundé, at an altitude of 780 m (2,560 ft). Here the lichen was found growing among plant debris over rock in open areas. The species is only known to occur in two locations on Minloua Mountain, which is a tropical inselberg. Secondary chemicals that are found in the lichen include barbatic acid and didymic acid.
Cladonia compressa is a species of lichen in the family Cladoniaceae. Found in Bolivia, it was formally described as a new species in 2016 by lichenologists Teuvo Ahti and Adam Flakus. The type specimen was collected by the second author near Siniari colony at an altitude of 2,186 m (7,172 ft). Here, in a Yungas secondary cloud forest, the lichen was found growing on the ground, in humus-rich mineral soil. The specific epithet compressa refers to the compressed podetia. Secondary compounds that occur in the lichen include fumarprotocetraric acid (major), and minor to trace amounts of protocetraric acid and physodalic acid.
Pulchrocladia retipora, commonly known as the coral lichen, is a species of fruticose lichen in the family Cladoniaceae. Found predominantly in Australasia, its habitats range from the Australian Capital Territory to New Zealand's North and South Islands, and even the Pacific region of New Caledonia, where it grows in coastal and alpine heathlands. The lichen features coral-like branches and subbranches with numerous intricate, netlike perforations. It is known by multiple names, with some sources referring to it by its synonym Cladia retipora, or the common name lace lichen.
Pulchrocladia corallaizon is a species of lichen in the family Cladoniaceae. It was first formally described as Cladia corallaizon. The specific epithet corallaizon, modified from Greek, means "ever-living coral". In 2018, it was transferred to the newly circumscribed genus Pulchrocladia.
Pulchrocladia ferdinandii is a species of lichen in the family Cladoniaceae. It was first formally described as Cladonia ferdinandii by Swiss lichenologist Johannes Müller Argoviensis in 1882. The specific epithet honours German-Australian botanist Ferdinand von Mueller, who collected the type specimen near Esperance, Western Australia. Rex Filson transferred the taxon to Cladia in 1970. In 2018, it was transferred to the newly circumscribed genus Pulchrocladia.
Strangospora is a genus of lichen-forming fungi. It is the only genus in the family Strangosporaceae, which itself is of uncertain taxonomic placement in the Ascomycota. It contains 10 species.
Cladonia longisquama is a species of fruticose lichen in the family Cladoniaceae. It occurs in the Seychelles, where it grows on moss-covered rocks.
Cladonia vescula is a species of fruticose lichen in the family Cladoniaceae. It is known for its small size and unique chemical composition. It can be found in the montane cloud forests and pre-Andean Amazonian forests of Bolivia and Peru, where it grows on mineral soil mixed with humus. This species closely resembles Cladonia peziziformis and Cladonia corymbosula in morphology, but it is more slender and almost entirely lacking a cortex.
Cladonia glacialis is a species of fruticose lichen in the family Cladoniaceae. Found in Iceland, it was described as a new species in 2009 by Hördur Kristinsson and Teuvo Ahti. The first author collected the type specimen in 1979 from Arnarfellsmúlar at an elevation of 600 m (2,000 ft). This type locality is on the southeast side of Múlajökull, which is an outlet glacier of the Hofsjökull ice cap. Cladonia glacialis is only known to occur at the type locality. It contains fumarprotocetraric acid as its major lichen product. The authors suggest that the species belongs to the "supergroup" Cladonia, and that it may be closely related to Cladonia phyllophora.
