Athallia

Athallia is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Teloschistaceae. Most species have a poorly developed or almost invisible thallus, with the fruiting bodies often appearing to sit directly on the substrate. The genus occurs on bark, wood, and rock, and is found mainly in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. All species share a characteristic set of orange anthraquinone pigments known as  A.

==Taxonomy== Athallia was described by Ulf Arup, Patrik Frödén and Ulrik Søchting in 2013 during a broader reworking of the family Teloschistaceae. That study set out to replace the traditional, very broad Caloplaca concept with smaller genera that better match evolutionary relationships inferred from DNA data. The authors placed Athallia in the subfamily Xanthorioideae and designated A. holocarpa as the type species. The genus name means "without thallus", referring to the reduced thallus that is common in the group.