 "Flustra foliacea" was studied as early as 1665, when Robert Hooke published observations of various organisms and materials made with an early microscope.It was first given a binomial name in 1758, when Carl Linnaeus included it in the 10th edition of his "" as "Eschara foliacea".In later publications, Linnaeus divided bryozoans into more than one genus, and so the species came to be called "Flustra foliacea".