| Masonhalea | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Masonhalea richardsonii | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Ascomycota |
| Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
| Order: | Lecanorales |
| Family: | Parmeliaceae |
| Genus: | Masonhalea Kärnefelt (1977) |
| Type species | |
| Masonhalea richardsonii (Hook.) Kärnefelt (1977) | |
| Species | |
Masonhalea is a genus of two species of lichenized fungi in the family Parmeliaceae. [1]
The genus was circumscribed by Swedish lichenologist Ingvar Kärnefelt in 1977, with Masonhalea richardsonii as the type, and at that time, only species. The genus name honours American lichenologist Mason Hale. [2] The unusual morphology of this species – a vagrant lichen – attracted interest from several lichenologists, resulting in its placement in several genera, including Cornicularia , Evernia , Everniopsis , Platysma and Parmelia . [3] Masonhalea inermis (formerly Cetraria crispa f. inermis) was added to the genus in 2011; [4] a close genetic relationship between these two species was confirmed with molecular phylogenetics. [3]
In 2017, Divakar and colleagues used a recently developed "temporal phylogenetic" approach to identify temporal bands for specific taxonomic ranks in the family Parmeliaceae, suggesting that groups of species that diverged within the time window of 29.45–32.55 million years ago represent genera. They proposed to synonymize Masonhalea with Nephromopsis , along with several other Parmelioid genera, so that all the genera within the Parmeliaceae are about the same age. [5] Although some of their proposed taxonomic changes were accepted, the synonymization of the Parmelioid genera with Nephromopsis was not accepted in a recent analysis. [6]
Both Masonhalea species feature lateral apothecia, pycnidia on the thallus margin, a layer of cortical tissue beneath the wall of the pycnidia, and bacillariform (short cylindrical) conidia. [3]
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.
Allocetraria is a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Parmeliaceae. It consists of 12 species, with a center of distribution in China.
Arctocetraria is a genus of foliose lichens in the family Parmeliaceae. It has three species.
Cetrariella is a genus of foliose lichens in the family Parmeliaceae. It contains three species.
Cetreliopsis is a genus of four species of lichens in the family Parmeliaceae.
Kaernefeltia is a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Parmeliaceae.
Tuckermannopsis is a genus of foliose lichens in the family Parmeliaceae.
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.
Xanthoparmelia is a genus of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. Xanthoparmelia is synonymous with Almbornia, Neofuscelia, Chondropsis, Namakwa, Paraparmelia, and Xanthomaculina. This genus of lichen is commonly found in the United States, as well as Australia, New Zealand and Ecuador.
Cetrariopsis is a genus of foliose lichens in the large family Parmeliaceae. The genus contains three species, including the type, Cetrariopsis wallichiana.
Tuckermanella is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Parmeliaceae.
Coelopogon is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Parmeliaceae. The genus contains two species found in southern South America and South Africa.
Esslingeriana is a fungal genus in the family Parmeliaceae. The genus is monotypic, containing the single foliose lichen species Esslingeriana idahoensis, commonly known as the tinted rag lichen. It is found in northwestern North America.
Austromelanelixia is a genus of five species of foliose lichens in the family Parmeliaceae. All species are found in the Southern Hemisphere.
Helge Thorsten Lumbsch is a German-born lichenologist living in the United States. His research interests include the phylogeny, taxonomy, and phylogeography of lichen-forming fungi; lichen diversity; lichen chemistry and chemotaxonomy. He is the Associate Curator and Head of Cryptogams and Chair of the Department of Botany at the Field Museum of Natural History.
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.
Usnocetraria is a genus of foliose lichens in the family Parmeliaceae.