''Cora elephas'' is a species of basidiolichen in the family

Hygrophoraceae The Hygrophoraceae are a family of fungi in the order Agaricales. Originally conceived as containing white-spored, thick-gilled agarics (gilled mushrooms), including ''Hygrophorus'' and ''Hygrocybe'' species (the waxcaps or waxy caps), DNA evide ...

. It was formally described as a new species in 2016 by

Robert Lücking Robert Lücking (born 1964) is a German lichenologist. He is a leading expert on foliicolous lichens–lichens that live on leaves. Life and career Born in Ulm in 1964, Lücking earned both his master's (1990) and PhD degree (1994) at the Univer ...

, Bibiana Moncada, and Leidy Yasmín Vargas-Mendoza. 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 ...

''elephas'' refers the "grey colour and elephant skin-like consistency" of the lichen. It occurs at elevations greater than in the northern Andes of

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

and Ecuador, where it grows mostly on rocks, but sometimes with mosses and other lichens. ''Cora elephas'' is one of the largest species in genus ''

Cora Cora may refer to: Science * ''Cora'' (fungus), a genus of lichens * ''Cora'' (damselfly), a genus of damselflies * CorA metal ion transporter, a Mg2+ influx system People * Cora (name), a given name and surname * Cora E. (born 1968), German hi ...

''.

References

elephas Lichen species Lichens described in 2016 Lichens of Colombia Lichens of Ecuador Taxa named by Robert Lücking Basidiolichens {{Hygrophoraceae-stub