''Speerschneidera'' is a single-species

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

Leprocaulaceae Leprocaulaceae is a family of mostly lichen-forming fungi. It is the single family in the monotypic order Leprocaulales. Leprocaulaceae contains three genera and about 33 species. Taxonomy Both the family and the order were circumscribed by Ame ...

. 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 Italian botanist

Vittore Benedetto Antonio Trevisan de Saint-Léon Vittore Benedetto Antonio Trevisan de Saint-Léon (5 June 1818, in Padua – 8 April 1897, in Milan) was an Italian botanist who specialized in cryptogam, cryptogamic flora. During his career, he was a professor of natural history in Padua. I ...

in 1861, with ''Speerschneidera euploca'' 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 ...

. This lichen was originally described by

Edward Tuckerman Edward Tuckerman (December 7, 1817 in Boston, Massachusetts – March 15, 1886) was an American botanist and professor who made significant contributions to the study of lichens and other alpine plants. He was a founding member of the Natura ...

in 1858 as ''Physcia euploca''. It is a

crustose lichen Crustose lichens are lichens that form a crust which strongly adheres to the Substrate (biology), substrate (soil, rock, tree bark, etc.), making separation from the substrate impossible without destruction. The basic structure of crustose lichen ...

found in the southern United States and Mexico. The genus name of ''Speerschneidera'' is in honour of (1825–1903), who was a German doctor, teacher and naturalist. He worked as a curator of

Frederick Charles, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Prince Frederick Charles of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (7 June 1736 – 13 April 1793) was a German Natural History collector, and from 1790 until his death the reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Life Frederick Charles of Schwarzburg-Rud ...

's natural history collection which later became the Natural History Museum in

Rudolstadt Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, with the Thuringian Forest to the southwest, and to Jena and Weimar to the north. The former capital of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the town is built along the River Saale inside a wide va ...

References

Lecanoromycetes Lichen genera Monotypic Lecanorales genera Taxa described in 1861 Taxa named by Vittore Benedetto Antonio Trevisan de Saint-Léon Fungi without expected TNC conservation status {{Lecanoromycetes-stub