{{Short description|Genus of lichen-forming fungi}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Use Oxford spelling|date=March 2026}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Protoblastenia rupestris PR4.JPG | image_caption = ''Protoblastenia rupestris'', Poland | taxon = Protoblastenia | authority = (Zahlbr.) J.Steiner (1911) | type_species = ''Protoblastenia rupestris'' | type_species_authority = (Scop.) J.Steiner (1911) | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = | synonyms_ref = <ref name="Species Fungorum"/> | synonyms = *''Blastenia'' sect. ''Protoblastenia'' {{au|Zahlbr. (1908)}} *''Blasteniomyces'' {{au|Cif. & Tomas. (1953)}} *''Oolithinia'' {{au|M.Choisy & Werner (1932)}} }}
'''''Protoblastenia''''' is a genus of lichens in the family Psoraceae.<ref name="Wijayawardene et al. 2020"/> It was originally circumscribed by Alexander Zahlbruckner in 1908 as a section of genus ''Blastenia''. J. Steiner promoted it to generic status in 1911.<ref name="Steiner 1911"/>
==Taxonomy and diversity== A 2025 revision of Finnish ''Protoblastenia'', based on morphology and nuclear ITS rDNA sequences, showed that the genus is more diverse than had previously been recognised. The study accepted 20 species in Finland, including 16 species newly described there: ''P. arupii'', ''P. borealis'', ''P. compressa'', ''P. dolomitica'', ''P. ekmanii'', ''P. fennoarctica'', ''P. minuta'', ''P. oulankaensis'', ''P. pseudocompressa'', ''P. pseudoterricola'', ''P. remota'', ''P. rikkinenii'', ''P. saanaensis'', ''P. timdalii'', ''P. violacea'', and ''P. westbergii''. Many of these taxa were found to be semi-cryptic, with only slight average morphological differences between species, so some specimens cannot be identified reliably without molecular data.<ref name="Pykälä & Myllys 2025"/>
Most species of ''Protoblastenia'' grow on calcareous rock, although ''P. terricola'' also occurs on calcareous soil. Species in the genus typically have anthraquinones in the apothecia, which usually give the {{lichengloss|discs}} an orange colour, along with convex apothecia and pale, non-septate spores. ''Protoblastenia'' differs from the related genus ''Psora'' in its absent or weakly developed upper {{lichengloss|cortex}} and in the lack of calcium oxalate crystals in the {{lichengloss|hypothecium}}. Molecular studies have supported the monophyly of the genus, and the Finnish revision found ITS barcoding useful for distinguishing species within ''Protoblastenia''.<ref name="Pykälä & Myllys 2025"/>
In Finland, the calcareous fells of Enontekiö in the northwest were identified as a particular centre of diversity for the genus. Nine of the newly described species were known there alone in Finland. The study also linked ''P. rikkinenii'' to material from Norway and ''P. oulankaensis'' to material from Italy, suggesting that the diversity of the genus has probably been underestimated in northern and central Europe.<ref name="Pykälä & Myllys 2025"/>
==Species== Species treated in the genus include:<ref name="Pykälä & Myllys 2025"/> * ''Protoblastenia arupii'' {{au|Pykälä & Myllys (2025)}} * ''Protoblastenia aurata'' {{au|Poelt & Vězda (1969)}} * ''Protoblastenia borealis'' {{au|Pykälä & Myllys (2025)}} * ''Protoblastenia calva'' {{au|(Dicks.) Zahlbr. (1930)}} * ''Protoblastenia calvella'' {{au|Kainz & Rambold (2004)}}<ref name="Kainz & Rambold 2004"/> * ''Protoblastenia compressa'' {{au|Pykälä & Myllys (2025)}} * ''Protoblastenia coniasis'' {{au|(A.Massal.) Poelt (1957)}} * ''Protoblastenia cyclospora'' {{au|(Hepp ex Körb.) Poelt (1975)}}<ref name="Poelt 1975"/> * ''Protoblastenia dolomitica'' {{au|Pykälä & Myllys (2025)}} * ''Protoblastenia ekmanii'' {{au|Pykälä & Myllys (2025)}} * ''Protoblastenia fennoarctica'' {{au|Pykälä & Myllys (2025)}} * ''Protoblastenia geitleri'' {{au|Zahlbr. (1936)}}<ref name="Zahlbruckner 1936"/> * ''Protoblastenia incrustans'' {{au|(DC.) J.Steiner (1915)}} * ''Protoblastenia laeta'' {{au|(Poelt) Kainz & Rambold (2004)}}<ref name="Kainz & Rambold 2004"/> * ''Protoblastenia lilacina'' {{au|Poelt & Vězda (1970)}} * ''Protoblastenia minuta'' {{au|Pykälä & Myllys (2025)}} * ''Protoblastenia oulankaensis'' {{au|Pykälä & Myllys (2025)}} * ''Protoblastenia pseudocompressa'' {{au|Pykälä & Myllys (2025)}} * ''Protoblastenia pseudoterricola'' {{au|Pykälä & Myllys (2025)}} * ''Protoblastenia remota'' {{au|Pykälä & Myllys (2025)}} * ''Protoblastenia rikkinenii'' {{au|Pykälä & Myllys (2025)}} * ''Protoblastenia rupestris'' {{au|(Scop.) J.Steiner (1911)}} * ''Protoblastenia saanaensis'' {{au|Pykälä & Myllys (2025)}} * ''Protoblastenia siebenhaariana'' {{au|(Körb.) J.Steiner (1911)}} * ''Protoblastenia szaferi'' {{au|J.Nowak (1974)}} * ''Protoblastenia terricola'' {{au|(Anzi) Lynge (1928)}} * ''Protoblastenia timdalii'' {{au|Pykälä & Myllys (2025)}} * ''Protoblastenia violacea'' {{au|Pykälä & Myllys (2025)}} * ''Protoblastenia westbergii'' {{au|Pykälä & Myllys (2025)}}
==References== {{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="Kainz & Rambold 2004">{{cite journal |last1=Kainz |first1=C. |last2=Rambold |first2=G. |year=2004 |title=A phylogenetic study of the lichen genus ''Protoblastenia'' (Lecanorales, Psoraceae) in Central Europe |journal=Bibliotheca Lichenologica |volume=88 |pages=267–300}}</ref>
<ref name="Poelt 1975">{{cite journal |last=Poelt |first=J. |year=1975 |title=Mitteleuropäische Flechten X |journal=Mitteilungen aus der Botanischen Staatssammlung München |volume=12 |pages=1-32 |language=de}}</ref>
<ref name="Pykälä & Myllys 2025">{{cite journal |last1=Pykälä |first1=Juha |last2=Myllys |first2=Leena |title=Unexpected species richness of the lichen genus ''Protoblastenia'' (Lecanorales, Psoraceae) in Finland |journal=MycoKeys |year=2025 |volume=124 |pages=193–226 |doi=10.3897/mycokeys.124.162802 |doi-access=free |pmid=41208904 |pmc=12590246}}</ref>
<ref name="Species Fungorum">{{cite web |title=Synonymy: ''Protoblastenia'' (Zahlbr.) J. Steiner |url=http://www.speciesfungorum.org/Names/SynSpecies.asp?RecordID=4381 |publisher=Species Fungorum |accessdate=19 August 2020}}</ref>
<ref name="Steiner 1911">{{cite journal |last1=Steiner |first1=J. |year=1911 |title=Flechten aus den Italienisch-Französischen Grenzgebiete und aus Mittelitalien |journal=Verhandlungen der Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft Wien. |volume=61 |pages=29–64 |language=de}}</ref>
<ref name="Wijayawardene et al. 2020">{{cite journal |display-authors=6 |last=Wijayawardene |first=Nalin |last2=Hyde |first2=Kevin |first3=LKT |last3=Al-Ani |first4=S |last4=Dolatabadi |last5=Stadler |first5=Marc |last6=Haelewaters |first6=Danny |last7=Tsurykau |first7=Andrei |last8=Mesic |first8=Armin |last9=Navathe |first9=Sudhir |last10=Papp |first10=Viktor |last11=Oliveira Fiuza |first11=Patrícia |last12=Vázquez |first12=Víctor |last13=Gautam |first13=Ajay |last14=Becerra |first14=Alejandra G. |last15=Ekanayaka |first15=Anusha |last16=K. C. |first16=Rajeshkumar |last17=Bezerra |first17=Jadson |last18=Matočec |first18=Neven |last19=Maharachchikumbura |first19=Sajeewa |last20=Suetrong |first20=Satinee |year=2020 |title=Outline of Fungi and fungus-like taxa |journal=Mycosphere |volume=11 |pages=1060–1456 |doi=10.5943/mycosphere/11/1/8 |doi-access=free |hdl=10481/61998 |hdl-access=free}}</ref>
<ref name="Zahlbruckner 1936">{{cite journal |last=Zahlbruckner |first=A. |year=1936 |title=Neue Flechten, XII |journal=Annales Mycologici |volume=34 |pages=159-179 |language=de}}</ref>
}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q7251900}}
Category:Lecanorales Category:Lichen genera Category:Lecanorales genera Category:Taxa described in 1908 Category:Taxa named by Alexander Zahlbruckner