Pártatlansuch

Pártatlansuch is a fictional lichen-like organism created for speculative biology and world-building. In source material, it serves as a case study for impartial interactions within ecosystems and as a metaphor for neutrality in scientific observation. The name blends the Hungarian word pártatlan, meaning impartial, with a constructed suffix to signal a taxonomic rank.

Taxonomy and naming: In the fictional taxonomy, pártatlansuch is placed in the genus Pártatlansuch within a hypothetical family Poudreaceae of the order Lichenales. It is described as a composite organism (lichens being symbioses) consisting of a mycobiont and a photobiont partner. The authority of its description is attributed to a fictional botanist, Dr. Eszter Németh, in a 2047 field guide.

Description: The thallus forms crust-like mats up to several centimeters across, with a pale blue-gray surface and a finely wrinkled texture. Apothecia are small, pale orange discs; isidia-like propagules are produced on the margins. The organism has a slow growth rate and a low secondary metabolite complexity.

Ecology and distribution: It is depicted as native to cool temperate forests in a fictional archipelago, growing on moss-covered rocks and tree bark. It forms mutualistic associations with photobionts and recruits nutrients through direct absorption from rain and ambient organic particles. Studies emphasize its relatively neutral phototropic response, giving it a pártatlansuch—impartial—growth profile useful in modeling unbiased ecological processes.

In science fiction and pedagogy: The concept is used in ethics discussions about bias in data collection and in classroom exercises on neutral observation. It appears in fictional field guides, encyclopedias, and world-building handbooks as an example of how taxa can symbolize abstract ideas.