Lepidostroma vilgalysii

Lepidostroma vilgalysii is a species of basidiolichen in the family Lepidostromataceae. Discovered in 2012 in Mexico's Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, it grows in small green patches on clay banks in high-altitude pine forests. The species is distinctive because of its unusual "window lichen" structure, where its algal partner is concentrated in a layer at the base rather than near the surface as in most lichens. Its most distinctive features are its club-shaped reproductive structures, which are pale yellow to orange-brown with cream-colored tips, and its scale-like body parts that have white, raised edges. It is known only from a single location near San José Teacalco, Tlaxcala, at an elevation of about 3,000 m (9,800 ft) above sea level.