''Pulchrocladia ferdinandii'' is a species of

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.Cladoniaceae The Cladoniaceae are a family of lichenized fungi in the order Lecanorales. It is one of the largest families of lichen-forming fungi, with about 560 species distributed amongst 17 genera. The reindeer moss and cup lichens (''Cladonia'') belong t ...

. It was first formally described as ''Cladonia ferdinandii'' by Swiss lichenologist

Johannes Müller Argoviensis Johann Müller (9 May 1828 - 28 January 1896) was a Swiss botanist who was a specialist in lichens. He published under the name Johannes Müller Argoviensis to distinguish himself from other naturalists with similar names. Biography Müller w ...

in 1882. 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 ...

honours German-Australian botanist

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vict ...

, who collected the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...

near

Esperance, Western Australia Esperance is a town in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, on the Southern Ocean coastline approximately east-southeast of the state capital, Perth. The urban population of Esperance was 12,145 at June 2018. Its major in ...

Rex Filson Rex Bertram Filson (born 1930) is an Australian Lichenology, lichenologist who made major contributions to knowledge of lichens in Australia and Antarctica. Early in his career Filson worked as a carpenter in various places around Australia, and ...

transferred 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 ...

to ''

Cladia ''Cladia'' is a genus of lichenized fungi in the family Cladoniaceae. ''Cladia'' species have a crustose primary thallus and a fruticose, secondary thallus, often referred to as pseudopodetium. The type species of the genus, '' Cladia aggregata'' ...

'' in 1970. In 2018, it was transferred to the newly

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 ...

genus ''

Pulchrocladia ''Pulchrocladia'' is a genus of fruticose lichens in the family Cladoniaceae. It has three species. The genus was circumscribed in 2018 by lichenologists Soili Stenroos, Raquel Pino-Bodas, Helge Thorsten Lumbsch, and Teuvo Ahti. The genus name ( ...

''. The lichen makes creamy-white to yellow pseudopodetia that are up to tall.

Secondary compounds Secondary metabolites, also called specialised metabolites, toxins, secondary products, or natural products, are organic compounds produced by any lifeform, e.g. bacteria, fungi, animals, or plants, which are not directly involved in the norma ...

occurring in the lichen include

atranorin Atranorin is a chemical substance produced by some species of lichen. It is a secondary metabolite belonging to a group of compounds known as depsides. Atranorin has analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, cytotoxic, antioxidant, ...

ursolic acid Ursolic acid (sometimes referred to as urson, prunol, malol, or 3β-hydroxyurs-12-en-28-oic acid), is a pentacyclic triterpenoid identified in the epicuticular waxes of apples as early as 1920 and widely found in the peels of fruits, as well ...

, and

usnic acid Usnic acid is a naturally occurring dibenzofuran derivative found in several lichen species with the formula C18H16O7. It was first isolated by German scientist W. Knop in 1844 and first synthesized between 1933-1937 by Curd and Robertson. Usnic a ...

. ''Pulchrocladia ferdinandii'' has an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n distribution. It has been recorded from

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, and

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

References

Cladoniaceae Lichen species Lichens described in 1882 Lichens of Australia Taxa named by Johannes Müller Argoviensis {{Lecanorales-stub