About Xanthoparmelia loxodes (Nyl.) O.Blanco, A.Crespo, Elix, D.Hawksw. & Lumbsch
Xanthoparmelia loxodes is a foliose lichen species belonging to the family Parmeliaceae. It was first formally described by Finnish botanist William Nylander in 1872 under the name Parmelia loxodes. In 1978, Ted Esslinger established the new genus Neofuscelia to hold species that had previously been classified in Parmelia subgenus Neofusca, and this species was one of many transferred to Neofuscelia as Neofuscelia loxodes. In 2004, Oscar Blanco, Ana Crespo, John A. Elix, David L. Hawksworth and H. Thorsten Lumbsch published a molecular phylogenetic study that demonstrated Neofuscelia did not form a clade separate from the genus Xanthoparmelia. As a result, the authors reduced Neofuscelia to a synonym of Xanthoparmelia, and the species received its current accepted name, Xanthoparmelia loxodes. This lichen is widely distributed across Europe, where it grows on siliceous rocks.
