''Niorma'' 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

Teloschistaceae The Teloschistaceae are a large family of mostly lichen-forming fungi belonging to the class Lecanoromycetes in the division Ascomycota. The family, estimated to contain over 1800 species, was extensively revised in 2013, including the creation o ...

. It has six

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 mor ...

species, with '' N. derelicta'' 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 was originally proposed by Italian lichenologist

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 ...

in 1861, but this and several other genera he proposed were largely ignored by later contemporaries. As part of a

molecular phylogenetics Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

-led restructuring of the teloschistoid

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

of the subfamily Xanthorioideae in the Teloschistaceae,

Sergey Kondratyuk Sergey Yakovlevich Kondratyuk ( uk, Сергій Якович Кондратюк) (born 17 May 1959) is a Ukrainian botanist specialising in lichenology. His research deals with the taxonomy, floristics, ecology and geography of lichens and lic ...

and colleagues resurrected the genus for use about 150 years later. Genus ''Niorma'' comprises what was previously known as a species complex centred around the

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

previously known as ''Teloschistes hypoglaucus''. The use of the genus has not been fully accepted by contemporary lichenologists. In a 2021 research paper, Wilk and colleagues suggest that "''Teloschistes'' forms a genetically diverse but strongly supported clade", and they prefer to use the older classification proposed by Arup et al. in 2013 until more data are available.

Species

* ''

Niorma arabica ''Niorma'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. It has six fruticose lichen, fruticose species, with ''Niorma derelicta, N. derelicta'' assigned as the type species. The genus was originally proposed by Italian ...

'' * '' Niorma chrysophthalma'' * '' Niorma derelicta'' * '' Niorma hosseusiana'' * '' Niorma hypoglauca'' * '' Niorma sennii''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q108894471 Teloschistales Teloschistales genera Lichen genera Taxa described in 1861 Taxa named by Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo