The Pilocarpaceae are a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

crustose lichen Crustose lichens are lichens that form a crust which strongly adheres to the Substrate (biology), substrate (soil, rock, tree bark, etc.), making separation from the substrate impossible without destruction. The basic structure of crustose lichen ...

s in the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Lecanorales The Lecanorales are an order of mostly lichen-forming fungi belonging to the class Lecanoromycetes in the division Ascomycota. The order contains 26 families, 269 genera, and 5695 species. Families Suborder Lecanorineae * Biatorellacea ...

. The species of this family have a

cosmopolitan distribution In biogeography, a cosmopolitan distribution is the range of a taxon that extends across most or all of the surface of the Earth, in appropriate habitats; most cosmopolitan species are known to be highly adaptable to a range of climatic and en ...

and have been found in a variety of climatic regions. Pilocarpaceae 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 Alexander Zahlbruckner in

Adolf Engler Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (25 March 1844 – 10 October 1930) was a German botanist. He is notable for his work on plant taxonomy and phytogeography, such as ''Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'' (''The Natural Plant Families''), edited with K ...

's influential 1905 work '' Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien''. In 2004, the family Micareaceae included the genera; '' Helocarpon'', '' Micarea'', ''

Psilolechia ''Psilolechia'' is a genus of four species of crustose lichens. It is the only member of Psilolechiaceae, a family (biology), family that was created in 2014 to contain this genus. Taxonomy The genus ''Psilolechia'' was established by Abramo Bar ...

'', '' Roccellinastrum'', and ''

Scutula ''Scutula'' is a genus of lichenicolous fungi in the family Ramalinaceae. Taxonomy The genus ''Scutula'' was circumscribed by French botanist Louis René Étienne Tulasne in 1862. The limits of the generic circumscription as well as the limits ...

''. Then in 2005, molecular phylogeny based on mitochondrial rDNA sequences showed that the genus ''Helocarpon'' was not related to the ''Micareaceae'' family and the rest of the genus were related to the Pilocarpaceae family and other genera.

Description

Pilocarpaceae species are

crustose Crustose is a Habit (biology), habit of some types of algae and lichens in which the organism grows tightly appressed to a substrate, forming a biological layer. ''Crustose'' adheres very closely to the Substrate (biology), substrates at all poin ...

and have

ascomata An ascocarp, or ascoma (: ascomata), is the fruiting body (sporocarp (fungi), sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded ascus, asci, each of which typically contains four to ...

in the form of an brightly-coloured

apothecium An ascocarp, or ascoma (: ascomata), is the fruiting body ( sporocarp) of an ascomycete phylum fungus. It consists of very tightly interwoven hyphae and millions of embedded asci, each of which typically contains four to eight ascospores. Ascoc ...

with a poorly-developed margin comprising loosely-intertwined

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 o ...

e. The

ascospore In fungi, an ascospore is the sexual spore formed inside an ascus—the sac-like cell that defines the division Ascomycota, the largest and most diverse Division (botany), division of fungi. After two parental cell nucleus, nuclei fuse, the ascu ...

s are

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from , and . Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is named after its glassy appearance on fresh gross pathology. On light microscopy of H&E stained slides, the extracellula ...

and often elongated with one or more

septa SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly four million people througho ...

Genera

Pilocarpaceae contains 32 genera and an estimated 445 species. The following list shows the genera,

authority Authority is commonly understood as the legitimate power of a person or group of other people. In a civil state, ''authority'' may be practiced by legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government,''The New Fontana Dictionary of M ...

, year of publication, and number of species as of 2020 (unless a newer source is cited). *'' Aquacidia'' – 3 spp. *'' Badimiella'' – 1 sp. *'' Baflavia'' – 1 sp. *'' Bapalmuia'' – 22 spp. *'' Barubria'' – 2 spp. *'' Brasilicia'' – 6 spp. *'' Bryogomphus'' – 1 sp. *'' Byssolecania'' – 7 spp. *'' Byssoloma'' – 60 spp. *''

Calopadia ''Calopadia'' is a genus of foliicolous lichen, foliicolous (leaf-dwelling) lichens in the family Pilocarpaceae. It was circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribed by Czech lichenologist Antonín Vězda in 1986. Species *''Calopadia aurantiaca'' ...

'' – 27 spp. *'' Calopadiopsis'' – 2 spp. *'' Ceratopycnidium'' – 2 spp. *''

Eugeniella ''Eugeniella'' is a genus of mostly leaf-dwelling (foliicolous) lichens in the family Pilocarpaceae. It contains 13 species. The genus was circumscribed in 2008 by lichenologists Robert Lücking, Emmanuël Sérusiaux, and Klaus Kalb, with ...

'' – 11 spp. *''

Fellhanera ''Fellhanera'' is a genus of mostly leaf-dwelling lichens in the family Pilocarpaceae. The genus, circumscribed by lichenologist Antonín Vězda in 1986, honours Austrian lichenologist Josef Hafellner. Species , Species Fungorum accepts 56 s ...

'' – about 100 spp. *''

Fellhaneropsis ''Fellhaneropsis'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Pilocarpaceae. The genus comprises 11 accepted species as of 2025. These inconspicuous lichens form extremely thin, smooth to powdery films that spread over bark, leaves, or o ...

'' – 9 spp. *'' Kantvilasia'' – 1 sp. *'' Lasioloma'' – 9 spp. *'' Leimonis'' – 2 spp. *'' Loflammia'' – 5 spp. *'' Loflammiopsis'' – 1 sp. *'' Logilvia'' – 1 sp. *'' Micarea'' – 126 spp. *'' Podotara'' – 1 sp. *''

Pseudocalopadia ''Pseudocalopadia'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Pilocarpaceae. The genus was circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribed in 1999 by lichenologist Robert Lücking, with ''Pseudocalopadia mira'' as the type species, type, and at ...

'' – 1 sp. *'' Roccellinastrum'' – 7 spp. *'' Schadonia'' – 4 spp. *'' Septotrapelia'' – 4 spp. *'' Sporopodiopsis'' – 2 spp. *'' Sporopodium'' – 24 spp. *'' Szczawinskia'' – 5 spp. *'' Tapellaria'' – 23 spp. *'' Tapellariopsis'' – 1 sp. *'' Uluguria'' - sp.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q31848 Lichen families Lecanoromycetes families Taxa named by Alexander Zahlbruckner Taxa described in 1905