''Placolecis'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

in the family

Catillariaceae The Catillariaceae are a family of crustose lichens in the order Lecanorales. Species of this family have a widespread distribution, especially in temperate areas. The family was originally circumscribed by Austrian lichenologist Josef Hafellner ...

. It has four species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling) and

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. The genus was

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every polyg ...

by Italian botanist

Vittore Benedetto Antonio Trevisan de Saint-Léon Vittore Benedetto Antonio Trevisan de Saint-Léon (5 June 1818, in Padua – 8 April 1897, in Milan) was an Italian botanist who specialized in cryptogam, cryptogamic flora. During his career, he was a professor of natural history in Padua. I ...

in 1857. He did not assign a

type species In 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 species that contains the biological type specimen ...

for the genus.

Josef Hafellner Josef Hafellner (1951– ) is an Austrian mycologist and lichenologist. He was awarded the Acharius Medal in 2016 for his lifetime contributions to lichenology. Before his retirement, he was a professor at the Karl-Franzens-Universität in Graz ...

designated a lectotype for ''Placolecis balanina'' in 1984, but subsequently, this

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

was folded into '' P. opaca''.

Species

*'' Placolecis kunmingensis'' – China *'' Placolecis loekoesiana'' *'' Placolecis opaca'' *'' Placolecis sublaevis'' – China The taxon once known as ''Placolecis plumbea'' is now considered

synonymous A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly 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 all ...

with '' Pectenia plumbea''.

References

Lecanorales Lecanorales genera Lichen genera Taxa described in 1857 Taxa named by Vittore Benedetto Antonio Trevisan de Saint-Léon {{Lecanorales-stub