''Flavoparmelia soredians'' is a widely distributed species of

foliose lichen Foliose lichen is one of the morphological classes of lichens, which are complex organisms that arise from the symbiotic relationship between fungi and a photosynthetic partner, typically algae. This partnership allows lichen to live in diverse ...

in the large family

Parmeliaceae The Parmeliaceae is a large and diverse family of Lecanoromycetes. With over 2700 species in 71 genera, it is the largest family of lichen-forming fungi. The most speciose genera in the family are the well-known groups: '' Xanthoparmelia'' ( 822 ...

. In the late 1990s, an increase in the frequency of ''Flavoparmelia soredians'' was noted in the Netherlands, which, until then, occurred rarely in the country. This population increase followed a decrease in the levels of the pollutant

sulphur dioxide Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a toxic gas responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is released naturally by volcanic activ ...

. '' Punctelia borreri'' and '' Flavoparmelia caperata'' were two other foliose species that experienced a similar increase in regional frequency during this time.

Taxonomy

The lichen was first formally described by Finnish lichenologist

William Nylander William Andrew Michael Junior Nylander Altelius (born 1 May 1996) is a Canadian-born Swedish professional ice hockey right winger for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nylander was selected by the Maple Leafs in th ...

in 1872 as ''Parmelia soredians''.

Mason Hale Mason Ellsworth Hale, Jr. (September 23, 1929 – April 23, 1990) was one of the most prolific lichenologists of the 20th century. Many of his scholarly articles focused on the taxonomy of the family Parmeliaceae. Hale was one of the first liche ...

transferred it to the genus '' Pseudoparmelia'' in 1974. It was later one of 17 species he transferred to ''Flavoparmelia'' in 1986.

References

Parmeliaceae Lichen species Lichens of Asia Lichens of Europe Lichens of South America Lichens described in 1872 Taxa named by William Nylander (botanist) {{Parmeliaceae-stub