Cora caraana

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Cora caraana is a rare basidiolichen in the Hygrophoraceae family. It was described in 2016 by Robert Lücking, Suzana Martins, and Fabiane Lucheta. The name caraana comes from Caraá, the Brazilian place where it was found in Rio Grande do Sul. So far, it is only known from this location, where it grows on shaded tree branches in a mountainous rainforest.

What it looks like:
- Forms rosettes up to about 7 cm across.
- Lobes are blue-green, smooth on top, with light gray rolled-in edges.
- On the underside are cream-colored reproductive patches arranged in faint concentric arcs.

Growth and structure (simplified):
- The lichen body sits on tree bark and looks leafy.
- It has five to ten semicircular lobes, each about 0.5 to 1.5 cm wide and 0.5 to 1 cm long.
- The top surface is bluish-green; the lower surface is pale and lacks a protective cortex.
- The interior has a thin outer layer, a photosynthetic layer, and a central, fibrous medulla.
- The spore-producing surface forms small cream patches beneath the lobes.
- In this species, many immature reproductive cells are present, but actual spores have not yet been recorded.
- No secondary chemicals have been detected.

Habitat and range:
- Known only from its type locality at roughly 410 meters elevation in the southern Atlantic Forest of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
- Grows epiphytically on shaded tree branches, often over liverworts, in a humid evergreen rainforest with high rainfall, diffuse light, and frequent mist.