Oropogon is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of lichen

Lichen

Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...

ised ascomycete

Ascomycota

The Ascomycota are a Division/Phylum of the kingdom Fungi, and subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the Sac fungi. They are the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species...

s in the large family Parmeliaceae

Parmeliaceae

The Parmeliaceae is a large and diverse family of Lecanoromycetes. With over 2000 species in roughly 87 genera, it is currently regarded as the largest family of lichen forming fungi...

. It is a genus of roughly 40 currently accepted species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

. It was previously included in the family Alectoriaceae, but this group has since been subsumed into the Parmeliaceae.

All members of the genus have a fruticose growth form. The most obvious synapomorphic

Synapomorphy

In cladistics, a synapomorphy or synapomorphic character is a trait that is shared by two or more taxa and their most recent common ancestor, whose ancestor in turn does not possess the trait. A synapomorphy is thus an apomorphy visible in multiple taxa, where the trait in question originates in...

 character which separates Oropogon from the rest of the family is the large brown, muriform, ascospore

Ascospore

An ascospore is a spore contained in an ascus or that was produced inside an ascus. This kind of spore is specific to fungi classified as ascomycetes ....

s which occur singly in each ascus

Ascus

An ascus is the sexual spore-bearing cell produced in ascomycete fungi. On average, asci normally contain eight ascospores, produced by a meiotic cell division followed, in most species, by a mitotic cell division. However, asci in some genera or species can number one , two, four, or multiples...

.