newly discovered lichen named for Obama

A California scientist has discovered a new species of lichen, a plant growth that looks a bit like moss, and has named it in honor of President Obama.

Details of the discovery are carried in the journal Opuscula Philolichenu .

Kerry Knudsen, lichen curator of the University of California, Riverside Herbarium, found the species -- now known as Caloplaca obamae -- two years ago on Santa Rosa Island in California.
For those with adequate intellectual capacity the following information will aid in clarification of the Caloplaca obama; The species has a well developed hypothallus of rhizohyphae and discreet patches of orange granules mostly 30–50 μm in diameter, usually coalesced and adhering to one another.