''Staurothele pulvinata'' is a species of

saxicolous This glossary of mycology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to mycology, the study of fungi. Terms in common with other fields, if repeated here, generally focus on their mycology-specific meaning. Related terms can be found ...

(rock-dwelling),

squamulose lichen A squamulose lichen is a lichen that is composed of small, often overlapping "scales" called . If they are raised from the substrate and appear leafy, the lichen may appear to be a foliose lichen, but the underside does not have a "skin" (cortex), ...

in the family

Verrucariaceae Verrucariaceae is a family of lichens and a few non-lichenised fungi in the order Verrucariales. The lichens have a wide variety of thallus forms, from crustose (crust-like) to foliose (bushy) and squamulose (scaly). Most of them grow on lan ...

. The lichen was first

formally described A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differ ...

in 1861 by

Theodor Magnus Fries Theodor "Thore" Magnus Fries (28 October 1832 – 29 March 1913), was a Sweden, Swedish botanist, lichenologist, and Arctic explorer. The son of the renowned mycologist Elias Magnus Fries, he served as a professor of botany and applied economic ...

, as a member of genus ''

Endocarpon ''Endocarpon'' is a genus of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), squamulose lichens in the family Verrucariaceae. It comprises 23 species. Taxonomy The genus was circumscribed by the German bryologist Johann Hedwig in 1789. '' Endocarpon pusillum'' was ...

''. The

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

was collected from northern Norway. The

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : 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 name and ...

was later transferred to '' Dermatocarpon'' by

Gustav Wilhelm Körber Gustav Wilhelm Körber (10 January 1817, Jelenia Góra, Hirschberg – 27 January 1885, Breslau) was a Silesian-German lichenologist and a professor at the University of Wrocław, University of Breslau. He specialized in the flora of Central Europ ...

in 1863, and to ''

Polyblastia ''Polyblastia'' is a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Verrucariaceae. As of 2020, it consists of about 40 species combined with about 50 orphaned species. The main difference with the genus ''Verrucaria'' is related to spores, which are mur ...

'' by

Antonio Jatta Antonio Jatta (25 June 1852 – 4 August 1912) was an Italian politician and lichenologist. After completing his secondary studies at the Classical Lyceum Umberto I in Naples, at the age of 22 he graduated with honours in natural history at th ...

in 1900. Starri Heiðmarsson moved it to ''

Staurothele ''Staurothele'' is a genus of saxicolous (rock-dwelling), crustose lichens in the family Verrucariaceae. It has about 40 species. When the fungus is part of a lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobac ...

'' in 2017, based on

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

analysis that showed it belonged to that genus. It is one of few squamulose species in a genus comprising mostly

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 ...

lichens. ''Staurothele pulvinata'' has an arctic-alpine distribution; it has been recorded from Europe, Greenland, Iceland, and the United States.

References

Verrucariales Lichen species Lichens described in 1861 Taxa named by Theodor Magnus Fries Lichens of Northern Europe Lichens of Iceland Lichens of Subarctic America {{Eurotiomycetes-stub