Parmelia (lichen)

This article is about the genus of lichen Parmelia, for other uses see Parmelia (disambiguation).

Parmelia is a genus of lichen (strictly, a genus of fungus) with around 1000 species world wide. It is a foliaceous lichen, which is to say that it resembles a leaf in shape. In recent years the genus Parmelia has been divided into a number of smaller genera according to thallus morphology.

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In general, Parmelia have a dark lower side with rhizines ('rootlets') which attach the lichen to its substrate. The upper side may be several colours - grey, yellow, brown - and may have reproductive organs on it. These may be apothecia (spore producing bodies), isidia or soralia (both vegetative structures). In between these two layers is the medulla which contains the algal component of the lichen.