Ahtiana 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...

ized fungi within the 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...

 family. A monotypic

Monotypic

In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...

 genus, it contains the single species Ahtiana sphaerosporella, found in western North America. This species was segregated from the genus Parmelia

Parmelia (lichen)

Parmelia is a large genus of lichenized fungus with a global distribution, extending from the Arctic to the Antarctic continent but concentrated in temperate regions. 125 species have been recorded on the Indian sub-continent...

by Canadian lichenologist Trevor Goward in an 1985 publication. It had been suggested that the genus include A. aurescens and A. pallidula (formerly Cetraria aurescens Tuck. and Cetraria pallidula Tuck., respectively) based on similarities in morphology

Morphology (biology)

In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features....

, but this transfer is not supported by molecular analysis.

The genus was named in honor of Finnish botanist Teuvo Tapio Ahti.