''Menegazzia'' 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 ...

ized

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 ...

containing roughly 70 accepted

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

.Galloway, D.J. (2007). Flora of New Zealand - ''Menegazzia'' http://floraseries.landcareresearch.co.nz/pages/index.aspx The group is sometimes referred to as the tree flutes, honeycombed lichens, or hole-punch lichens. The most obvious morphological feature of the genus is the distinctive

perforation A perforation is a small hole in a thin material or web. There is usually more than one perforation in an organized fashion, where all of the holes collectively are called a ''perforation''. The process of creating perforations is called perfor ...

s spread across the upper side of the

thallus Thallus (: thalli), from Latinized Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. A thallus usually names the entir ...

. This makes the group easy to recognise, even for those not particularly familiar with lichen identification. The genus has a sub-cosmopolitan distribution (excluding

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

), but is concentrated in

Australasia Australasia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising Australia, New Zealand (overlapping with Polynesia), and sometimes including New Guinea and surrounding islands (overlapping with Melanesia). The term is used in a number of different context ...

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from New Guinea in the west to the Fiji Islands in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Vanu ...

, and southern South America. Most species grow exclusively on trees, but some grow on rocks, moss, and/or soil.

Etymology

''Menegazzia'' was described by the Veronese lichenologist Abramo Massalongo in 1854.James, P.W. and Galloway, D.J. (1992). Flora of Australia - ''Menegazzia'' http://www.anbg.gov.au/abrs/lichenlist/MENEGAZZIA%20Genus%20and%20Key.pdf He named it after his friend Luigi Menegazzi (1795-1854), who was a

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

Taxonomy

Placement of ''Menegazzia'' within the

Parmeliaceae 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'' ( 82 ...

has now been confirmed by several molecular studies.Arup, U., Ekman, S., Grube, M., Mattson, J., Wedin, M. (2007). The sister group relation of Parmeliaceae (Lecanorales, Ascomycota). ''Mycologia'' 99: 42-49. http://www.mycologia.org/cgi/content/abstract/99/1/42Thell, A., Feuerer, T., Karnefelt, I., Myllys, L., Stenroos, S. (2004). Monophyletic groups within the Parmeliaceae identified by ITS rDNA, β-tubulin and GAPDH sequences. ''Mycological Progress'' 3: 297-314. https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs11557-006-0100-1 However, the exact position of the genus within the Parmeliaceae remains uncertain. It is unplaced within the Parmeliaceae. Previously, the morphologically similar genus '' Hypogymnia'' was thought to be the sister genus to ''Menegazzia'', with some authors even separating these two genera into a family of their own, the Hypogymniaceae.Poelt, J. (1973). Classification. In: Ahmadjian, V., Hale, M.E. (Eds.), The Lichens. Academic Press, New York, pp.599-632./ However, no molecular phylogenies to date have supported this grouping. There are three accepted

subgenera In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...

within ''Menegazzia'': ''Dispora'', ''Octospora'', and ''Megamenegazzia''.Bjerke, J.W. and Sipman, H.J.M. (2007). New species and new records of ''Menegazzia'' (Parmeliaceae, lichenized ascomycetes) from Malaysia and Indonesia. ''Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society'' 153: 489-499

/ref> However, the monophyletic nature of these three groups remains unknown.

Characteristics

Thallus

The

of ''Menegazzia'' is its most distinctive feature. It is

foliose A foliose lichen is a lichen with flat, leaf-like , which are generally not firmly bonded to the substrate on which it grows. It is one of the three most common lichen growth forms, growth forms of lichens. It typically has distinct upper and lo ...

, dorsiventral, lobate, and often

rosette Rosette is the French diminutive of ''rose''. It may refer to: Flower shaped designs * Rosette (award), a mark awarded by an organisation * Rosette (design), a small flower design *hence, various flower-shaped or rotational symmetric forms: ** R ...

-forming, though many species can also be irregularly spreading. It is heteromerous, that is, it contains an upper

cortex Cortex or cortical may refer to: Biology * Cortex (anatomy), the outermost layer of an organ ** Cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the vertebrate cerebrum, part of which is the ''forebrain'' *** Motor cortex, the regions of the cerebral cortex i ...

, medulla, green algal layer (occupied by ''

Trebouxia ''Trebouxia'' is a unicellular green alga. It is a photosynthetic organism that can exist in almost all habitats found in polar, tropical, and temperate regions.Erokhina, L. G., Shatilovich, A. V., Kaminskaya, O. P., & Gilichinskii, D. A. (2004 ...

'' spp.), and lower cortex. The thallus can be loosely or closely attached to the

substrate Substrate may refer to: Physical layers *Substrate (biology), the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the surface or medium on which an organism grows or is attached ** Substrate (aquatic environment), the earthy material that exi ...

, depending on the species. Lobes are generally hollow and inflated, with perforations throughout the

corticate {{Short pages monitor