Graphis

Graphis (Gr. graphō, 'I write'), a genus of lichens, which gives its name to a tribe, Graphideæ, remarkable for the resemblance which the fructification (apothecia, or shields) assumes to the forms of the letters of oriental alphabets. G. scripta is common in northern Europe, but of the twenty species the great majority are tropical. Some are said to assist in the identification of cinchona barks of particular species, growing on certain kinds and not on others.