Neophyllis | |
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Neophyllis pachyphylla | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Fungi |
Division: | Ascomycota |
Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
Order: | Lecanorales |
Family: | Sphaerophoraceae |
Genus: | Neophyllis F.Wilson (1891) |
Type species | |
Neophyllis melacarpa F.Wilson (1891)
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Species | |
Neophyllis a small genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Sphaerophoraceae.[1] The genus is endemic to Australasia, occurring in southeastern Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. It comprises two recognised species characterised by small, leaf-like structures (squamules) and black, spherical spore-producing structures (apothecia). The more common and widespread species, N. melacarpa, typically grows on rotting wood and soil in various forest and heathland habitats, while the rarer N. pachyphylla is found mainly on granite and sandstone substrates. First proposed in 1889 as Phyllis and renamed in 1891, the genus was historically classified within the Cladoniaceae before being transferred to Sphaerophoraceae based on molecular evidence in the late 1990s.