''Xalocoa'' is a single-species fungal

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

in the family

Graphidaceae The Graphidaceae are a family of lichens in the order Ostropales. Distribution and ecology The vast majority of Graphidaceae species are restricted to the tropics. Most Graphidaceae species are epiphytic (i.e. they grow only on plants). Gene ...

. 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 po ...

in 2013 by lichenologists Ekaphan Kraichak,

Robert Lücking Robert Lücking (born 1964) is a German lichenologist. He is a leading expert on foliicolous lichens–lichens that live on leaves. Life and career Born in Ulm in 1964, Lücking earned both his master's (1990) and PhD degree (1994) at the Univer ...

, and

H. Thorsten Lumbsch Helge Thorsten Lumbsch (born 1964) is a German-born lichenologist living in the United States. His research interests include the phylogeny, taxonomy, and phylogeography of lichen-forming fungi; lichen diversity; lichen chemistry and chemotax ...

. It contains ''Xalocoa ocellata'', a corticolous (bark-dwelling),

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

that was originally described by Elias Magnus Fries in 1831 (as ''Parmelia ocellata''). ''Xalocoa'' belongs to the subfamily Graphidoidae, and

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confl ...

Thelotremateae in the Graphidaceae. The genus is characterized by its greyish-white

thallus Thallus (plural: thalli), from Latinized Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or " twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. Many of these organisms ...

covered by an layer, large apothecioid ascomata with exposed and thick, entire thalline margins, as well as a thin, reduced, that lacks lateral . The genus features a non-

hymenium The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in others som ...

, pale brown, non-

amyloid Amyloids are aggregates of proteins characterised by a fibrillar morphology of 7–13 nm in diameter, a beta sheet (β-sheet) secondary structure (known as cross-β) and ability to be stained by particular dyes, such as Congo red. In the hu ...

ascospores, bacilliform , and contains the

norstictic acid Norstictic acid is a depsidone produced as a secondary metabolite Secondary metabolites, also called specialised metabolites, toxins, secondary products, or natural products, are organic compounds produced by any lifeform, e.g. bacteria, fu ...

. The genus name ''Xalocoa'' originates from the

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid ...

term , which signifies the

sirocco Sirocco ( ), scirocco, or, rarely, siroc (see below) is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and can reach hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe, especially during the summer season. Names ''Sirocco'' derives from ...

, a warm wind that comes from the

Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...

and affects

Mediterranean region In biogeography, the Mediterranean Basin (; also known as the Mediterranean Region or sometimes Mediterranea) is the region of lands around the Mediterranean Sea that have mostly a Mediterranean climate, with mild to cool, rainy winters and ...

s. The

species epithet Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany) A botanical name ...

pays tribute to Xavier Llimona, a Catalan researcher known for his work on Mediterranean lichens and his contributions to the taxonomy of the genus ''

Diploschistes ''Diploschistes'' (crater lichen) is a genus of crustose lichens with a thick, cracked (areolate) body (thallus) with worldwide distribution.Field Guide to California Lichens, Stephen Sharnoff, Yale University Press, 2014, The fruiting part (ap ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21230502, from2=Q21300748 Graphidaceae Lichen genera Graphidales genera Taxa described in 2014 Taxa named by Robert Lücking Taxa named by Helge Thorsten Lumbsch