''Massalongia'' 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

Massalongiaceae ''Massalongiaceae'' is a small family of lichen-forming fungi in the order Peltigerales. It has three genera and seven species. Species in this family have cyanobacteria as their primary symbiotic partner (cyanobiont), so they belong to the grou ...

. It has four species. The genus 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 German lichenologist

Gustav Wilhelm Körber Gustav Wilhelm Körber (10 January 1817, Hirschberg – 27 January 1885, Breslau) was a German lichenologist. He studied natural sciences in Breslau and Berlin, obtaining his PhD in 1839 with the thesis ''De gonidiis lichenum''. After graduati ...

in 1855, with '' M. carnosa'' assigned as the

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 ...

. The genus name of ''Massalongia'' is in honour of

Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo (13 May 1824 – 25 May 1860) was an Italian paleobotanist and lichenologist. He was born in Tregnago in the Province of Verona and took a great interest in botany as a young man. Massalongo joined the faculty of med ...

(1824-1860), who was an Italian lichenologist.

Species

*'' Massalongia carnosa'' *'' Massalongia griseolobulata'' *'' Massalongia microphylliza'' *'' Massalongia patagonica''

References

Peltigerales Peltigerales genera Lichen genera Taxa described in 1855 Taxa named by Gustav Wilhelm Körber {{Peltigerales-stub