Five corticolous taxa of sorediate Ramalinae which occur in the tropics and subtropics are shown to comprise the tropical component of the otherwise temperate Ramalina farinacea complex. Their morphology, anatomy, chemistry, ecology and distribution are discussed. Ramalina pacifica Asah., R. nervulosa (Müll. Arg.) des Abb., R. dumeticola Krog & Swinscow and R. luciae Mohlo et al., were investigated together with an unnamed acid-deficient taxon. Ramalina nervulosa and R. pacifica are maintained as species while the remainder are considered as varieties of these species; viz. R. nervulosa var. dumeticola (Krog & Swinscow) comb. nov., R. nervulosa var. luciae (Mohlo et al.) comb. nov., and R. pacifica var. inacida var. nov.

The lichen genus Calycidium Stirt. (Calycidiaceae, Lecanorales, ‘Caliciales’ s. lat.) contains two species: C. cuneatum Stirt., distributed in Australia (Tasmania) and New Zealand, and C. polycarpum (Colenso) Wedin, comb, nov., distributed in Argentina, Australia (Tasmania), Chile and New Zealand. The morphology, chemistry, ecology and distribution of the two species is discussed, as is the taxonomic position of the genus. Calycidium is reported as new to Argentina.

Three species of the family Teloschistaceae (lichenized Ascomycota) are described as new to science from Southern and Eastern Siberia and the Far East. Corticolous Caloplaca saviczii belongs to the genus Caloplaca s. str.; it has C. cerina-like apothecia and green to grey-green, crateriform soralia with a white rim. Lendemeriella aureopruinosa is a saxicolous taxon with a thin grey thallus and small apothecia 0.3–0.6 mm in diameter, with a dark orange disc usually bearing epipsamma and often with a grey true exciple containing the pigment Cinereorufa-green. Orientophila infirma is a corticolous species with an endophloeodal thallus and small orange apothecia, 0.2–0.3 mm in diameter, usually with an inconspicuous thalline exciple. All new taxa presumably have a boreal north-eastern distribution in Asia.

Heterocyphelium is a mazaediate genus containing a single species, H. leucampyx. The species was originally described from Cuba within the genus Trachylia (Arthoniales, Arthoniaceae) and later placed in various genera of the collective order Caliciales s. lat. For the past three decades, Heterocyphelium was considered an orphaned genus (incertae sedis) within the Ascomycota, since morphology alone could not resolve its systematic position. In this study, we added molecular data with the aim of resolving this uncertainty. Bayesian and maximum likelihood analyses of newly generated sequence data from the mitochondrial ribosomal RNA small subunit (mtSSU) and the RNA polymerase II second largest subunit gene (RPB2) provide clear evidence that Heterocyphelium leucampyx is nested within the order Arthoniales, in the family Lecanographaceae, sister to the genus Alyxoria. Heterocyphelium is a further example of parallel evolution of passive spore dispersal, prototunicate asci and the occurrence of a mazaedium in the Ascomycota, and another calicioid genus whose systematic placement could be eventually clarified by means of molecular data. Heterocyphelium is the fourth mazaediate genus in Arthoniales, in addition to Sporostigma, Tylophorella and Tylophoron.

The new species Fellhaneropsis rhododendri is described from living Rhododendron leaves in the Netherlands. It is characterized by pyriform pycnidia with stiff, septate hairs at the mouth. It is doubtlessly due to recent global warming that an obligately foliicolous lichen can be described from a temperate area in Europe.

The integration of the taxonomy of lichenized and non-lichenized pyrenocarpous ascomycetes is still in progress. Within this group, at least 12 lichenization events, three re-lichenizations and at least 24 de-lichenization events, are supposed to have occurred during evolution. This is evident from the increasing amount of information regarding phylogeny and classification of pyrenocarpous fungi. The total number of lichenization events, including re- and de-lichenization, within all fungi is estimated to be at least 100. However, the vast majority of the pyrenocarpous lichens are concentrated in a few relatively large, presumably monophyletic, groups. In some cases, proposed integrations have proven to be untenable, for example Microtheliopsis and with the Herpotrichiellaceae, Flavobathelium with the Dimeriaceae and most notably the Normandina thallus with the basidiomycetes and its ascocarps with Sphaendina in the Mycosphaerellaceae. The same true for many cases where lichenized taxa were unwittingly included in otherwise non-lichenized groups, such as Didymosphaeria and Massarina, or even described new, presumably non-lichenized, genera like Holstiella, Starbaeckiella and Titanella.

A new neotypus is designated for Thamnolia vermicularis in accordance with the protologue. The taxonomy is best reflected by molecular evidence which recognizes three subspecies: the widespread subsp. vermicularis, and the geographically more restricted subsp. taurica (in the eastern Alps) and subsp. tundrae (in the Arctic region). The nomenclatural consequences resulting from these changes require that two new combinations are made.

The taxonomy of the genus Sticta in Hawaii is reassessed, based on a separately published molecular phylogeny using the fungal barcoding marker ITS. Based on Magnusson and Zahlbruckner's treatment from 1943 and Magnusson's catalogue from 1955, seven species of Sticta and three infraspecific taxa had been reported from the archipelago, all widespread except the putative endemic S. plumbicolor. Here we provide a taxonomic treatment of 13 taxa, 12 species and one subspecies, distinguished in a previous phylogenetic analysis: S. acyphellata, S. andina, S. antoniana, S. emmanueliana, S. flynnii, S. fuliginosa, S. hawaiiensis, S. limbata, S. plumbicolor, S. scabrosa subsp. hawaiiensis, S. smithii, S. tomentosa and S. waikamoi. All taxa are described, discussed and illustrated and a dichotomous key is presented. The implications of revised species taxonomies for studies in other fields such as ecology, ecophysiology, biogeography, biochemistry, and applications such as environmental monitoring are discussed. We also propose a protocol to use Sticta lichens to monitor the environmental health of Hawaiian ecosystems.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the spatial effect of a natural source of sulphur pollution on the species diversity, richness and distribution of corticolous lichens in a páramo zone at the mine ‘El Vinagre’ (Puracé, Cauca, Colombia). Three zones at different distances from the pollution source were established: zone 1 with a high degree of contamination, a potentially mildly affected or transitional zone 2, and a zone 3 free of disturbance. In each zone, 10 phorophytes of Weinmannia microphylla (Cunoniaceae) were sampled, and all lichens in a 150 cm vertical transect 50 cm above the ground were collected and identified. Phorophyte parameters were measured (bark pH and diameter at breast height) and the samples were georeferenced. In order to evaluate the impact on lichens, non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMS) and indicator species analysis were carried out. ANOVA and Spearman correlations were performed to assess the relationships of environmental and tree variables between zones and with lichen community structure. The index of atmospheric purity (IAP) and the environmental rating factor (FCA) were evaluated for the three zones. In total, 104 lichen species were recorded, of which 72 were identified to species, 17 to genus, and four to family; 11 samples could not be identified. NMS clustered samples according to zone and the main axis which were correlated with bark pH and distance from pollution source. We found eight indicator species characterizing different zones, and four marginally significant indicator species. Using the IAP, we established three isocontamination areas, with zones 2 and 3 classified as more or less pristine zones and zone 1 as a polluted zone (supported by bark pH as a proxy for current pollution). Diversity was lowest in zone 1, closest to the pollution source, and lichen species composition differed between zones. Differences between lichens in zones 2 and 3 appear mostly unrelated to the current pollution source and might be more related to historical differences in impact from a 20-year-old pollution source.

The new genus and species Isalonactis madagascariensis is characterized by a crustose, non-corticate, often sorediate thallus containing psoromic acid, tiny white pruinose ascomata with a thalline margin, an inconspicuous excipulum, a pale brown hypothecium, 3-septate hyaline ascospores and curved filiform conidia. Phylogenetic analyses using nuLSU and RPB2 sequences place Isalonactis in the Roccellaceae, close to the genera Lecanactis and Chiodecton. The new species was collected on sheltered siliceous rocks in the dry landscape of the Isalo Massif (S Madagascar). Dermatiscum thunbergii is newly recorded from Madagascar.

The new species Lecanora lasalliae Pérez-Ortega & Etayo is described from Spain. It is included provisionally in Lecanora s. lat as characters such as Lecanora-type ascus, exciple composed of thick radiating hyphae and the usual presence of algal cells in the excipulum or its lichenicolous habitus on Lasallia pustulata, do not fit well within any known genus of lichenicolous or lichenized fungi. Its taxonomic affinities with several taxa are discussed, including the parasitic Lecanora gyrophorina.

Four enzymes were examined electrophoretically from each of seven stands of arctic umbilicate lichens in central Ellesmere Island. The species studied included Umbilicaria virginis Schaerer, which was prolifically apotheciate, and U. decussata (Vill.) Zahlbr. and U. hyperborea (Ach.) Hoffm., which were both sterile. Electrophoretic banding patterns were converted to presence/absence data reflecting the occurrence of electromorphs in each thallus, and enzyme polymorphism was assessed using three statistical methods, one based on frequency of individual enzyme forms, another on the number of banding patterns, and a third on the proportional representation of different band patterns within each collection site. Greater enzyme variability occurred in stands of apotheciate species than in stands of species which were asexual in the study area, suggesting that regular sexual reproduction contributes to greater diversity.

Fifteen specimens of four Acarospora species of subgenus Xanthothallia were analysed. All species contained (+)-rhizocarpic acid. A. gobiensis and A. schleicheri had only this compound and A. oxytona this and (+)-lichesterinic acid. A. chlorophana seems to exist in two chemical races, one with a mixture of (-)-acaranoic and (-)-acarenoic acids and the other with (+)-roccellic acid. The stereochemistry and biogenesis of these compounds is briefly discussed.

A second species of the lichen-forming hyphomycete genus Cheiromycina B. Sutton, C. petri D. Hawksw. & Poelt sp.nov., is described from old Betula bark in Steiermark, Austria. It differs from C. flabelliformis B. Sutton in thallus colour, the more compact blue-grey non-eroding sporodochia, the very tightly dichotomously branched conidia, and in having much shorter terminal branches.

Lemmopsis is retained as a genus in the Lichinaceae. Three species are recognised, L. arnoldiana (Hepp) Zahlbr., L. oblongans (Nyl. ex Crombie) A. L. Sm. and L. pelodes (Körber ex B. Stein) comb. nov. Lemmopsis leptogiella (Nyl.) A. L. Sm. is transferred to Porocyphus. The status of Psorotichia flotowiana (Hepp) Müll.Arg. is discussed and its affinities suggested.

The medullary structure of 24 Umbilicariaceae species was studied by light microscopy. The objective was to investigate the variability of the medulla of these lichens and to assess the possible implications for thallus ecophysiology and the taxonomic relevance of the anatomy of this layer. Several methods of embedding, sectioning and staining together with the comparison of radial with transverse sections showed important differences in the degree of cohesion of hyphae and their spatial orientation within the medulla. Other important characteristics were the existence of more than one structurally homogeneous layer within the medulla, the frequency of hyphal branching, the relative thickness of the cell wall and lumen and the abundance of gelatinous matter in the intercellular spaces. The medullae studied were grouped into seven main types. The constancy of the types of medulla for certain groups of species makes it a useful secondary character to be considered in the taxonomy of the Umbilicariaceae. The important role of the structure of the medulla in the water relations of the Umbilicariaceae is discussed and a general relationship between medulla type and hydration strategy is suggested