''Gibbosporina sphaerospora'' is a 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 family

Pannariaceae The Pannariaceae are a family of lichens in the order Peltigerales (suborder Collematineae). Species from this family have a widespread distribution, but are especially prevalent in southern temperate regions. Genera According to a recent (202 ...

. It was described as a new species in 2016 by Arve Elvebakk and Soon Gyu Hong. The

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

was collected from

Millaa Millaa Falls Millaa Millaa Falls is a heritage-listed plunge waterfall at Theresa Creek Road, Millaa Millaa, Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 5 December 2005. The falls are adjacent to the to ...

in Queensland, Australia, where it was found growing on fallen branches in a remnant

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

near the falls. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''sphaerospora'', which combines the Greek ''sphaero'' ("globose") with ''spora'', refers to the spherical shape of the spores. The lichen occurs in Australia,

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

, and

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

References

sphaerospora Lichen species Lichens of Australia Lichens of New Guinea Lichens of Oceania Lichens described in 2016 Taxa named by Arve Elvebakk {{Peltigerales-stub