The Teloschistaceae are a large family of mostly lichen-forming fungi belonging to the class Lecanoromycetes in the division Ascomycota. 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. Collectively, the family has a cosmopolitan distribution, although members occur predominantly in subtropical and temperate regions. Although most members are lichens that either live on rock or on bark, about 40 species are lichenicolous fungi–meaning they live on other lichens.
Gyalolechia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi belonging to the family Teloschistaceae. It contains 18 species of crustose lichens.
Squamulea is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It has 15 species. The genus was circumscribed in 2013 by Ulf Arup, Ulrik Søchting, and Patrik Frödén, with Squamulea subsoluta assigned as the type species. Five species were included in the original account of the genus. The genus name alludes to the squamulose growth form of most of its species. Squamulea has a worldwide distribution; when the genus was originally created, the centre of distribution was thought to be in southwestern North America.
Sirenophila is a genus of crustose lichens in the subfamily Teloschistoideae of the family Teloschistaceae. It has four species with an Australasian distribution.
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.
Bryostigma is a genus of lichen-forming fungi of uncertain familial placement in the order Arthoniales. The genus was circumscribed in 1979 by Josef Poelt and Peter Döbbeler, with the muscicolous lichen Bryostigma leucodontis assigned as the type species. A dozen Arthonia species were transferred into the genus in 2020 following molecular phylogenetic analysis of the family Arthoniaceae that showed distinct phylogenetic lineages that were basal to that family. The genus contains several parasitic species that occur on hosts having chlorococcoid photobionts.
Kashiwadia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Physciaceae. The genus was circumscribed in Sergey Kondratyuk, László Lőkös, and Jae-Seoun Hur in 2014 to contain the species Physcia orientalis, after molecular phylogenetic analysis showed that the taxon occupied an isolated phylogenetic position in the Physciaceae. An additional five species were added to the genus in 2021. The genus name honours Japanese lichenologist Hiroyuki Kashiwadani, who originally described the type species.
Teuvoahtiana is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It contains three species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichens, all of which occur in South America.
Elixjohnia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It has four species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichens that occur in Australasia.
Rusavskia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It has 12 species. It is a member of the subfamily Xanthorioideae. The thallus of Rusavskia is characterized by its foliose (leaf-like) structure with distinct and typically narrow lobes that curve outwards.
Follmannia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It has three species. All three species are crustose lichens, and all occur in South America.
Gondwania is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the subfamily Xanthorioideae of the family Teloschistaceae. It has three species. The genus was circumscribed by lichenologists Ulrik Søchting, Patrik Frödén, and Ulf Arup. The type species is G. cribrosa, a species that was first named Polycauliona cribrosa by Auguste-Marie Hue in 1909. The genus name refers to the ancestral supercontinent Gondwana.
Opeltia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It has four species of corticolous (bark-dwelling), crustose lichens.
Erichansenia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It has three species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichens.
Fauriea is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. The genus, which contains seven species, is a member of the subfamily Caloplacoideae.
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.
Hosseusiella is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It has three species of crustose to foliose (leafy) lichens, some of which grow on bark, while others grow on rock. All three occur in the southern part of the South American continent, where they are fairly common.
Orientophila is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It has 15 species of mostly saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichens. All Orientophila species occur in Northeast Asia including China, Japan, South Korea, and the Russian Far East.
