Pachyphysis

Pachyphysis is a fungal genus in the family Lecideaceae. It is a monotypic genus, containing the single species Pachyphysis ozarkana, a lichen. It is a crust-forming lichen that grows on limestone and dolomite rocks in open, sunny habitats, and is often inconspicuous because its main body develops within the rock surface rather than on top of it. The species has a restricted range in the eastern and central United States, centred on the Ozarks, and is associated with landscapes that were not covered by ice sheets during the last ice age.

==Taxonomy== The genus Pachyphysis was proposed in 2007 by Richard C. Harris and Douglas M. Ladd, and it contains a single species, Pachyphysis ozarkana. The genus name refers to the unusually thick paraphyses (sterile filaments in the fruiting body), whereas the epithet ozarkana refers to the Ozark region, where most collections have been made.