''Bilimbia'' 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

Ramalinaceae The Ramalinaceae are a family of lichenized fungi in the order Lecanorales. The family name is synonymous with the name ''Bacidiaceae''. Species of this family have a widespread distribution. Genera *''Aciculopsora'' *''Adelolecia'' *'' Arthro ...

Taxonomy

''Bilimbia'' 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

Giuseppe De Notaris Giuseppe De Notaris (18 April 1805, Milan – 22 January 1877) was an Italian botanist generally known for his work with cryptogams native to Italy. He studied medicine at the University of Pavia, obtaining his medical degree in 1830. Having deve ...

in 1846. He included two species, ''B. hexamera'' and ''B. tetramera''. Although once widely used by lichenologists, in the 1900s it fell into disuse as authors realized that the name had already been used previously for a genus of

phanerogam A spermatophyte (; ), also known as phanerogam (taxon Phanerogamae) or phaenogam (taxon Phaenogamae), is any plant that produces seeds, hence the alternative name seed plant. Spermatophytes are a subset of the embryophytes or land plants. They inc ...

s (as ''Bilimbia'' heedeRchb., published by

Ludwig Reichenbach Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach (8 January 1793 – 17 March 1879) was a German botanist and ornithologist. It was he who first requested Leopold Blaschka to make a set of glass marine invertebrate models for scientific education and museu ...

in 1837). Furthermore, Alexander Zahlbruckner transferred the ''Bilimbia'' lichens to the genus ''

Bacidia ''Bacidia'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Ramalinaceae. The genus was circumscribed by Giuseppe De Notaris in 1846. Species in the genus are crust-like lichens with stemless apothecia; they have green algae (chloroccoid) as p ...

'' in his two of his works (1926 and 1932). A reassessment of the nomenclatural status of Reichenbach's genus determined that it was not published validly, and De Notaris' ''Bilimbia'' was resurrected for use.

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 ...

evidence suggests that the genus forms a well-supported

monophyletic In cladistics for a group of organisms, monophyly is the condition of being a clade—that is, a group of taxa composed only of a common ancestor (or more precisely an ancestral population) and all of its lineal descendants. Monophyletic gro ...

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

within the

. De Notaris did not specify 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 ...

when he created the genus.

Bruce Fink Bruce Fink (December 22, 1861 – July 10, 1927) was a prominent American lichenologist. His name was synonymous with the field of botany in the United States for more than 30 years. Although educated and well-versed across the spectrum of botany ...

designated ''B. hexamera'' as the type in 1910. However, he used the now-obsolete ''American Code'', and the new nomenclatural rules allow for his typification to be superseded by any later typification, unless the typification has been reaffirmed in the interim. In 1952,

Rolf Santesson Rolf Santesson (1916–2013) was a Swedish lichenologist and university lecturer. He was awarded the Acharius Medal in 1992 for his lifetime contributions to lichenology. Early life and education Santesson was born in 1916 in Trollhättan, Swe ...

set ''B. hexamera'' as the type. In 1984,

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 ...

redesignated ''B. tetramera'' as the type, a decision that was followed by Timdal in 1991. However, the species ''B. hexamera'' is today considered to be

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 '' Bilimbia sabuletorum'', while ''B. tetramera'' is now known as ''Mycobilimbia tetramera''. If ''B. tetramera'' is assigned as the type of ''Bilimbia'', then ''Bilimbia'' becomes a synonym of, and the correct name for ''Mycobilimbia'', which is taxonomically unfeasible. For this reason, a proposal was published in 2020 to conserve the name ''Bilimbia'' with ''B. hexamera'' as a conserved type.

Species

*'' Bilimbia caloosensis'' *'' Bilimbia caudata'' *'' Bilimbia corcovadensis'' *'' Bilimbia declinis'' *'' Bilimbia granosa'' *'' Bilimbia jeanjeanii'' *'' Bilimbia lobulata'' *'' Bilimbia microcarpa'' *'' Bilimbia pulchra'' *'' Bilimbia ravenelii'' *'' Bilimbia rubidofusca'' *'' Bilimbia rubricosa'' *'' Bilimbia sabuletorum'' *'' Bilimbia sabulosa'' *'' Bilimbia sibiriensis'' *'' Bilimbia suballinita'' *'' Bilimbia sublecanorina'' *'' Bilimbia tetramera''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10429579 Ramalinaceae Lichen genera Lecanorales genera Taxa described in 1846 Taxa named by Giuseppe De Notaris