''Cora byssoidea'' is a species of basidiolichen in the family Hygrophoraceae. Found in Colombia, it was formally described as a new species in 2013 by lichenologists Robert Lücking and Bibiana Moncada. The type specimen was collected in Páramo El Verjón ( Choachí, Cundinamarca) at an altitude of . Here it was found growing as an

epiphyte An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...

on twigs and small branches of

páramo Páramo () can refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower ...

vegetation. The lichen is only known from the

type locality Type locality may refer to: * Type locality (biology) * Type locality (geology) See also * Local (disambiguation) * Locality (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''byssoidea'' refers to the ''byssoid'' (cotton-like or fibrous) surface of the upper thallus. This surface comprises an irregularly dissolved layer of single

hypha A hypha (; ) is a long, branching, filamentous structure of a fungus, oomycete, or actinobacterium. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium. Structure A hypha consists of one or ...

e in the cortex. A lookalike species, ''

Cora hirsuta ''Cora hirsuta'' (previously ''Dictyonema hirsutum'') is a species of basidiolichen in the family Hygrophoraceae. Found in the páramo region near Bogotá at over elevation, it was described as new to science in 2011. The lichen, characterise ...

'', also found at the same location, has a similar surface texture. In this lichen the surface is made of erect trichomes of agglutinated

e; despite their similarities, the two species are not closely related.

References

byssoidea Lichen species Lichens described in 2013 Lichens of Colombia Taxa named by Robert Lücking Basidiolichens Taxa named by Bibiana Moncada {{Hygrophoraceae-stub