Megasporaceae are a

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

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 ...

belonging to the order

Pertusariales The Pertusariales are an order of fungi in the class Lecanoromycetes. It contains the following families: Agyriaceae The Agyriaceae are a family of lichenized fungi in the order Pertusariales. It contains two genera: ''Agyrium ''Agyri ...

. Taxa are

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.green algae The green algae (singular: green alga) are a group consisting of the Prasinodermophyta and its unnamed sister which contains the Chlorophyta and Charophyta/Streptophyta. The land plants (Embryophytes) have emerged deep in the Charophyte alga as ...

, and grow on rocks, often in

maritime climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

s close to fresh water.

Phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

analysis has shown that this family is related to the

Pertusariaceae The Pertusariaceae are a family of lichen-forming fungi in the order Pertusariales. Taxonomy The family was formally circumscribed by German lichenologist Gustav Wilhelm Körber in 1846. It contained the genera ''Pertusaria'' and '' Ochrolechi ...

, another family of lichens. The genus ''

Aspicilia ''Aspicilia'' (sunken disk lichen) is a genus of mostly crustose areolate lichens that grow on rock. Most members have black apothecia discs that are slightly immersed in the areolas, hence the common name.Field Guide to California Lichens, Step ...

'' was moved here from the Hymeneliaceae.

Genera

Genera of this family include: * ''

'' – ca. 200 spp. * '' Aspiciliella'' – 2 spp. * '' Circinaria'' – 31 spp. * '' Lobothallia'' – 17 spp. * '' Megaspora'' – 4 spp. * '' Oxneriaria'' – 9 spp. * '' Sagedia'' – 12 spp. * ''

Teuvoa ''Teuvoa'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Megasporaceae. The genus was circumscription (taxonomy), circumscribed in 2013 by Mohammad Sohrabi and Steven Leavitt with ''Teuvoa uxoris'' assigned as the type species. The genus was s ...

'' – 5 spp.

References

Pertusariales Lichen families Taxa named by Helge Thorsten Lumbsch Taxa described in 1994 Lecanoromycetes families {{Pertusariales-stub