''Cladonia pleurota'' is a species of

fruticose A fruticose lichen is a form of lichen fungi that is characterized by a coral-like shrubby or bushy growth structure. It is formed from a symbiotic relationship of a photobiont such as green algae or less commonly cyanobacteria and one, two or ...

, cup lichen in the family

Cladoniaceae The Cladoniaceae are a family of lichenized fungi in the order Lecanorales. It is one of the largest families of lichen-forming fungi, with about 560 species distributed amongst 17 genera. The reindeer moss and cup lichens ('' Cladonia'') belong ...

. It was first formally described as a new species by German lichenologist

Heinrich Gustav Flörke Heinrich Gustav Flörke (24 December 1764, in Altenkalden in Mecklenburg – 11 June 1835) was a German botanist and lichenologist. He initially studied theology and mathematics in Bützow, later studying medicine at the University of Jena. I ...

in 1808 as ''Capitularia pleurota''.

Ludwig Emanuel Schaerer Ludwig Emanuel Schaerer (11 June 1785 – 3 February 1853) was a Swiss pastor and lichenologist. Interested in natural history from a young age, Schaerer trained as a teacher and studied theology in Bern. During his career as a teacher, orph ...

transferred it to the genus ''

Cladonia ''Cladonia'' is a genus of moss-like lichens in the family Cladoniaceae. They are the primary food source for reindeer/caribou. ''Cladonia'' species are of economic importance to reindeer-herders, such as the Sami in Scandinavia or the Nenets ...

'' in 1850. In North America, it is known

colloquially Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in conversa ...

as the red-fruited pixie cup or the red-fruited cup lichen.

References

pleurota Lichen species Lichens described in 1808 Lichens of Europe Lichens of North America Taxa named by Heinrich Gustav Flörke {{Lecanorales-stub

See also

References