Nodobryoria

Nodobryoria is a genus of medium to large, reddish-brown lichens that are hair-like to shrubby (fruticose) in shape and grow on conifer trees. The genus contains three species, distributed in North America and Greenland, which were previously included in the genus Bryoria. Nodobryoria is similar in appearance to Bryoria, but is differentiated because it does not contain the polysaccharide lichenin (which is present in high quantities in Bryoria), and it has a unique cortex composed of interlocking cells that look like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle when viewed under a light microscope. ==Taxonomy==

Nodobryoria was established by Ralph Common and Irwin M. Brodo in 1995 as a segregate from Bryoria sect. Subdivergentes, arguing that the section's distinctive blend of warranted recognition at genus rank. To avoid ambiguity they described a new genus with its own clear type rather than simply elevating the section, in line with (but not constrained by) ICBN guidance. They restricted the concept to three species—B. abbreviata, B. oregana, and B. subdivergens—excluding B. divergescens from the group, and designated Nodobryoria abbreviata as the type species. The name combines nodo- (for the nodular, jigsaw-like outer cortex) with Bryoria, signalling both the diagnostic cortex and the lineage from which it was split.