Caloplaca

Caloplaca
The species C. marina
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Fungi
Phylum: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Teloschistales
Family: Teloschistaceae
Genus: Caloplaca
Th.Fr., 1871
Type species
Caloplaca cerina
(Ehrh. ex Hedw.) Th. Fr.

Caloplaca[1] is a lichen genus, composed of a number of distinct species. The distribution of this lichen genus is world wide, extending from Antarctica[2] to the high Arctic.[3] It includes a portion of northern North America and the Russian High Arctic. There are about thirty species of Caloplaca in the flora of the British Isles.[4] An example species in this genus is Caloplaca saxicola, a lichen with worldwide distribution including the Antarctic continent, Europe, northern North America including the northern reaches of the Canadian Boreal forests.

A new species of Caloplaca, C. obamae, the first species to be named in honor of Barack Obama, was discovered in 2007 on Santa Rosa Island in California and published in March 2009.[5]

Gallery

References

  1. ^ Irwin M. Brodo, Sylvia Duran Sharnoff, Stephen Sharnoff and Susan Laurie-Bourque. 2001
  2. ^ M. Olecha and U. Søchtinga (1993) Four New Species of Caloplaca from Antarctica. The Lichenologist 25, 261-269
  3. ^ U. SøChtinga and M. Olecha (1995) The Lichen Genus Caloplaca in Polar Regions. The Lichenologist 27, 463-471
  4. ^ Dobson, F.S. (2000) Lichens, an illustrated guide to the British and Irish species. 4th edition. Richmond publishing Co., Slough, England.
  5. ^ ScienceDaily. 16 April 2009. New Species Of Lichen Named After President Barack Obama. Accessed online 16 April 2009.

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