{{Short description|Genus of lichen}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Use Oxford spelling|date=June 2025}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Pulchrocladia retipora 85223209.jpg | image_caption = ''Pulchrocladia retipora'' | taxon = Pulchrocladia | authority = S.Stenroos, Pino-Bodas, Lumbsch & Ahti (2018) | type_species = ''Pulchrocladia retipora'' | type_species_authority = (Labill.) S.Stenroos, Pino-Bodas & Ahti (2018) | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = ''P. corallaizon''<br /> ''P. ferdinandii''<br /> ''P. retipora'' }}
'''''Pulchrocladia''''' is a small genus of fruticose lichens in the family Cladoniaceae. It has three species.<ref name="Wijayawardene et al. 2022"/><ref name="CoL_75D4"/> The genus was established in 2018 when DNA studies revealed that the traditional genus ''Cladia'' contained several distinct evolutionary groups, leading scientists to separate them into different genera. These ground-dwelling lichens are found only in the Southern Hemisphere, particularly in Australia and New Zealand, where they form coral-like cushions with intricate lattice patterns in open heathlands, bogs, and coastal areas.
==Taxonomy==
''Pulchrocladia'' was erected as a segregate genus of the Cladoniaceae in 2018, when multilocus phylogenetic analyses showed that ''Cladia'' in its traditional wide sense was paraphyletic. The study resolved three well-supported lineages within ''Cladia'': clade A (now ''Rexiella''<ref name="Stenroos et. al. 2019"/>), clade B (''Cladia'' sensu stricto), and clade C, which was recognised as ''Pulchrocladia'' to maintain monophyly across the group. The new genus received strong statistical support and was formally published by Soili Stenroos, Raquel Pino-Bodas, Helge Thorsten Lumbsch and Teuvo Ahti. The genus name (from the Latin ''pulchro'', meaning "pretty" or "beautiful") refers to "the beautiful morphology of its species".<ref name="Stenroos et al. 2018"/>
Morphologically and chemically, ''Pulchrocladia'' is distinct from both ''Cladia'' s.str. and ''Rexiella''. Its pseudopodetia are robust, yellow-tinged and richly {{lichengloss|fenestrate}}, forming an almost coral-like reticulate lattice; the inner medulla is stranded and {{lichengloss|reticulate}} rather than hollow or loosely filled. Chemically the genus is characterised by the consistent presence of usnic acid and atranorin, and the absence of divaricatic acid, which dominates in ''Rexiella''. These features, together with the coralloid branching pattern and regularly spaced fenestrations, provide reliable {{lichengloss|characters}} for field and herbarium recognition.<ref name="Stenroos et al. 2018"/>
==Habitat and distribution==
Species of ''Pulchrocladia'' are ground-dwelling, fruticose lichens that favour open, well-lit situations. They usually form {{lichengloss|pulvinate}}, coral-like cushions on acidic, nutrient-poor substrates—most often peaty or sandy soils in coastal and alpine heathlands, but they are also recorded from granite screes, subalpine peat bogs, and, more rarely, decaying wood or rocky ledges. Their strongly fenestrate {{lichengloss|pseudopodetia}} enhance ventilation and water-shedding, allowing the thalli to endure the fluctuating moisture and temperature typical of these exposed habitats.<ref name="Stenroos et al. 2018"/>
''Pulchrocladia'' is confined to the southern hemisphere, its centre of diversity in Australasia and extending north-eastwards to New Caledonia. The type species, ''P. retipora'', ranges widely—from Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania through New Zealand (including the Antipodes, Auckland, Campbell and Chatham Islands) to New Caledonia. ''P. ferdinandii'' is an Australian endemic recorded in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. The narrowly distributed ''P. corallaizon'' is known only from South and Western Australia. Collectively, these ranges span tropical to subantarctic latitudes.<ref name="Stenroos et al. 2018"/>
==Species==
''Pulchrocladia'' comprises 3 species:<ref name="CoL_75D4"/> *''Pulchrocladia corallaizon'' {{au|(F.Wilson ex Filson) S.Stenroos, Pino-Bodas & Ahti (2018)}} *''Pulchrocladia ferdinandii'' {{au|(Müll.Arg.) S.Stenroos, Pino-Bodas & Ahti (2018)}} *''Pulchrocladia retipora'' {{au|(Labill.) S.Stenroos, Pino-Bodas & Ahti (2018)}}
==References== {{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="CoL_75D4">{{Catalogue of Life |id=75D4 |title=''Pulchrocladia'' |access-date=28 June 2025}}</ref>
<ref name="Stenroos et al. 2018">{{cite journal |last1=Stenroos |first1=Soili |last2=Pino-Bodas |first2=Raquel |last3=Hyvönen |first3=Jaakko |last4=Lumbsch |first4=Helge Thorsten |last5=Ahti |first5=Teuvo |title=Phylogeny of the family Cladoniaceae (Lecanoromycetes, Ascomycota) based on sequences of multiple loci |journal=Cladistics |volume=35 |issue=4 |year=2018 |pages=351–384 |doi=10.1111/cla.12363 |pmid=34633698|hdl=10261/247495 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
<ref name="Stenroos et. al. 2019">{{cite journal |last1=Stenroos |first1=Soili |last2=Pino-Bodas |first2=Raquel |last3=Ahti |first3=Teuvo |title=''Rexiella'', a new name for ''Rexia'' S. Stenroos, Pino-Bodas & Ahti (2018), non ''Rexia'' D. A. Casamatta, S. R. Gomez & J. R. Johansen (2006) |journal=Cladistics |volume=35 |issue=5 |year=2019 |page=603 |doi=10.1111/cla.12401 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
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Category:Cladoniaceae Category:Lecanorales genera Category:Lichen genera Category:Taxa described in 2018 Category:Taxa named by Teuvo Ahti Category:Taxa named by Soili Stenroos Category:Taxa named by Helge Thorsten Lumbsch