moved to the new genus Notoparmelia; these species had been shown by molecular phylogenetic analysis to form a monophyletic lineage in Parmelia. Fossil record There are two foliose fossil taxa, Parmelia ambra and P. isidiiveteris, that have been placed provisionally in genus Parmelia due to their overall resemblance to members of this genus. Later authors have suggested, however, that this generic placement is not appropriate for the current concept of Parmelia, and that because of the dearth of specimens available for analysis, it is impossible to know for certain which of the many foliose genera in the family Parmeliaceae is best suited for these fossils. Description Parmelia species have a foliose (leafy) thallus with a substrate attachment ranging from loose to tight. The lobes comprising the thallus are rounded, more or less straight, and may be contiguous or overlapping (imbricate). The texture of the upper thallus ranges from smooth to foveolate (covered with puts and depressions). The colour is typically green to whitish grey to greyish brown, and some species have a coating of pruina on the surface. Most species have pseudocyphellae (tiny pores that allow for gas exchange), and vegetative propagules such as isidia or soredia, or both. The lower surface of the thallus is black (or close to it), and has rhizines (either simple or branched) that function as holdfasts to attach it to its substrate. The cortex (botany) is paraplectenchymatous – a cell arrangement where the hyphae are oriented in all directions. The ascomata of Parmelia species are in the form of apothecia, which have a zeorine structure (an apothecium in which a proper exciple is enclosed in the thalline exciple) and are laminal (superficial on the surface) to somewhat stipitate. The exposed upper surface of the hymenium, the disc, is brown, rarely blackish. The asci are eight-spored, while the spores are colorless, ellipsoid, and measure 10–18 by 5–13 μm. The conidiomata are in the form of pycnidia; these black spots are laminal and immersed in the thallus surface. They produce dumbbell-shaped conidia with dimensions of 5.5–8 μm. The photobiont partners of Parmelia are green algae from the genera Asterochloris or Trebouxia. Ecology Parmelia lichens are food for the caterpillars of certain Lepidoptera, such as the bagworm moth Taleporia tubulosa. Conservation Two species of Parmelia have been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature for the global IUCN Red List. Both Parmelia saxatilis and P.