Caliciales

(botany) An order of lichens in the class Ascolichenes characterized by an unusual apothecium.

An order of the Ascolichenes. This order is characterized by an unusual apothecium. The hymenial layer originates normally, but by the time the spores are mature, the asci and paraphyses have partially disintegrated into a mass of spores and hymenial tissues known as a mazaedium. Two families, Caliciaceae and Roesleriaceae, are so close that some species in either one may or may not lichenize symbiotic algae. The family Cypheliaceae is more typically crustose, with sessile apothecia and a more fully developed thallus. The Sphaerophoraceae are fruticose but the thallus is solid. The apothecia are open or enclosed in a spherical chamber at the tips of branches. The largest genus, Sphaerophorus, is widespread in boreal zones and mountains of both hemispheres.