''Catolechia'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

-forming

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

in the family

Rhizocarpaceae Rhizocarpaceae is a family of lichen-forming fungi; together with the family Sporastatiaceae it constitutes the order Rhizocarpales in the Ascomycota, class Lecanoromycetes. These lichens are primarily rock-dwellers that form thin, paint-like ...

. It is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

genus, containing the single species ''Catolechia wahlenbergii''. The genus was

circumscribed In geometry, a circumscribed circle for a set of points is a circle passing through each of them. Such a circle is said to ''circumscribe'' the points or a polygon formed from them; such a polygon is said to be ''inscribed'' in the circle. * Circum ...

by German botanist Julius von Flotow in 1850. He did not assign a

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

for the genus; ''Catolechia pulchella'' was designated as the type by

Gustav Wilhelm Körber Gustav Wilhelm Körber (10 January 1817, Jelenia Góra, Hirschberg – 27 January 1885, Breslau) was a Silesian-German lichenologist and a professor at the University of Wrocław, University of Breslau. He specialized in the flora of Central Europ ...

in 1855. This species is

synonymous A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

with ''Catolechia wahlenbergii''. Several species that were originally described as a member of ''Catolechia'' have since been transferred to other genera. Examples include: *''Catolechia flavovirescens'' = '' Arthrorhaphis citrinella'' *''Catolechia glomerulans'' = '' Monerolechia glomerulans'' *''Catolechia lactea'' = '' Buellia lactea'' *''Catolechia marginulata'' = '' Buellia marginulata'' *''Catolechia moriopsis'' = '' Orphniospora moriopsis'' *''Catolechia pyxinoides'' = '' Pyxine pyxinoides'' *''Catolechia subcoronata'' = '' Buellia subcoronata'' *''Catolechia tenuis'' = '' Dimelaena tenuis'' *''Catolechia wahlenbergii'' ß ''alpina'' = '' Bellemerea alpina''

References

Rhizocarpaceae Lichen genera Monotypic Lecanoromycetes genera Taxa described in 1850 Taxa named by Julius von Flotow {{Lecanoromycetes-stub