In order to identify monophyletic groups within the family Parmeliaceae, eleven taxa (Bryoria capillaris, Cetraria islandica, Evernia pruniastri, Hypogymnia physodes, Parmelia saxatilis, Platismatia glauca, Pleurosticta acetabulum, Usneaflorida, Vulpicida juniperina, V. pinastri, and Xanthoparmelia conspersa) were studied using newly produced nuclear rDNA sequence data from the ITS and 5·8S regions. The resulting evolutionary hypothesis was compared with results from previous phylogenetic analyses based on anatomy, morphology, and chemistry. The outcome of this comparison does not support the earlier proposed phylogenies but is not stable enough for identifying monophyletic groups, with one exception. The results indicate a close relationship between Cetraria and Vulpicida, which is contradictory to previous published analyses. The variation in ascus structures in the Parmeliaceae is discussed and it is questioned whether the earlier distinguished ‘ forms ’ of ascus types represent synapomorphies, if they are based on poorly supported analyses, or if they are exaggerations of relatively slight variation in shape. Further interpretations of the results are discussed and areas of future studies based on DNA-data are suggested.