A new Arthothelium species, A. hymeniicola in the apothecia of an unidentified Bacidia sp., is described from Campbell Island, New Zealand. The new species is remarkable, not only by being the first lichenicolous Arthothelium species, but also by being an endohymenial fungus not forming ascomatal structures. Previously, no Arthoniaceae species were reported as parasitic from Bacidia spp. However, both generic and family placements are tentative and the possibility of a placement in the Cookellaceae is also discussed. Differences between Arthoniaceae and Cookellaceae, and the generic delimitations within them, are generally based on the structures of the fruiting bodies, rendering the taxonomic placement of the new species challenging without molecular data; neither fruiting bodies nor molecular data are available for the new species and the Cookellaceae.

A corticolous lichen species, Opegrapha granulosa Siljo & G. P. Sinha, with a UV+ pale yellow thallus, is described as new to science from the Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve, West Bengal, India.

Our knowledge of ontogenetic development and reproductive biology in lichen-forming fungi is rather poor. Here, we aim to advance our understanding of the reproductive biology of Parmelina carporrhizans and P. quercina for which mycobiont fungi of both species were cultured in aposymbiotic conditions from ascospores. For P. carporrhizans 48 hours were necessary for 98·6% of apothecia to eject spores, while for P. quercina 100% of apothecia ejected spores in the first 24 hours. In P. quercina, large apothecia ejected more spores than smaller ones. In both species the percentage of spores germinating seemed independent of apothecium size. The percentage germination was higher in P. carporrhizans (72·4%) than in P. quercina (14·3%). Moreover, P. carporrhizans was grown more successfully on culture media than P. quercina. These results suggest that these species have different reproductive strategies, given that P. carporrhizans expels larger spores and in greater numbers than P. quercina as well as having different nutritional requirements (since P. carporrhizans grew successfully in the selected media but P. quercina did not). These characteristics may explain the sympatric speciation of these species.

Umbilicaria orientalis Davydov sp. nov. is described and phylogenetic analysis (ITS, mtLSU and RPB2) confirmed its distinctness and indicated a sister relationship with U. trabeculata within the U. vellea group. The species is morphologically similar to U. vellea but differs by simple, cylindrical or strap-like rhizinomorphs and by thalloconidia, developing both on the lower surface and on rhizinomorphs, that are 1–2 (rarely 4)–celled or in aggregates of up to 5–6 cells. Umbilicaria orientalis is described from the Russian Far East and is currently known from a wide range of localities in East Asia, from the Far East to South Siberia and Mongolia in the north, to Hebei and Tibet in the south. New sequences of U. americana were obtained; the species represents an independent phylogenetic lineage within Umbilicaria subg. Papillophora. Diagnostic traits and variability of different developmental stages of U. orientalis, as well as its East Asian distribution pattern, are discussed.

In a recent article (Lange & Wagenitz 2003) we analysed the variation and historical changes in the meaning of the old lichenological term ‘phycolichen’. We came to the conclusion that the word is not suited for use as a name for green algal lichens because of the considerable ambiguity generated by its previous usage. Instead we recommended the name ‘chlorolichen’, a term that appeared to have been used rarely in the lichenological literature; we found it only in publications by Sillett & Goslin (1999) and Ellyson & Sillett (2003). At the time we were not able to determine its origin but this puzzle has, in the meantime, been solved. It was Vernon Ahmadjian who introduced this word as a counterpart for cyanolichens (V. Ahmadjian in litt). He first used the term in 1989 when he wrote “… enough species of lichens with green photobionts (chlorolichens) have been synthesized …” (p. 29), and he also applied the term in his book ‘The Lichen Symbiosis’ (Ahmadjian 1993: 123). Thus, it is to the credit and innovation of Vernon Ahmadjian that we have available the short forms ‘chlorolichens’ and ‘cyanolichens’ for the two functional groups of lichens with either green algae or with cyanobacteria, respectively, as their main photobionts.

The phytosociology of lichens colonizing granitic churches and dolmens in Galicia (N.W. Spain) and Alentejo (central Portugal) was studied so as to identify (a) a group of species whose frequency on these structures would make them potentially useful as test species for the evaluation of biocides used for conservation, (b) environmental factors likely to control species distribution, and (c) species that may be useful as bioindicators of environmental factors in this kind of construction in the region studied. Chief among the factors correlating with species distribution is the class of structure (church or dolmen), which is attributed to the probable influence of this factor on environmental parameters affected by structural complexity, the presence of non-granitic materials and the influence of man in the immediate surroundings. The bioindicator species most sensitive to this complex of parameters appear to be three species found only on churches (Caloplaca citrina, Sarcogyne davits and Verrucaria macrostoma) and the most widespread of the species found only on dolmens (Lasallia pustulata). Other important factors, probably affecting the influence of class of structure, are pH and the availability of nitrogen and moisture.

New collections are reported of the monospecific genus Polypyrenula, an apparently extinct and doubtfully lichenized fungus, typically classified in the Pyrenulaceae. Anatomical studies reveal that it is facultatively lichenized. The structure of its hamathecium suggests affinities with Dothideomycetes rather than Eurotiomycetes. Molecular analysis using nuLSU and mtSSU markers demonstrates for the first time its inclusion in Trypetheliaceae, outside the core genera as part of the early diverging lineages in this family. The known distribution of Polypyrenula is extended to Mexico and South America, new information on its phorophyte associations is provided, and the name Polypyrenula sexlocularis is reinstated as the correct name for this species.

Nine specimens of Pyrenula japonica Kurokawa were collected from various areas in Japan. Photobionts were isolated from their thalli and studied taxonomically. As a result, only one species of green alga,Trentepohlia lagenifera(Hild.) Wille was identified as the photobiont of Pyrenula japonica. This is the first record of this alga from the lichen genus Pyrenula.

Over the last century, the distribution of Teloschistes flavicans has contracted from being widespread in the southern half of England and Wales to being limited to South-West England with outlying populations in Pembrokeshire and North Wales. Twelve core sites have been identified where the species is well established: ten of these are saxicolous/terricolous habitats on windy coastal cliff tops; the other two are lines of sycamore trees near the coast. At 39 further localities, some inland, the species is in very small amounts (often on one tree) and vulnerable to extinction. It is normally a member of the Parmelietum revolutae or Ramalinetum scopularis associations. The conservation of the species is discussed.

Traditional classification concepts in lichenology are often, but not always, supported by molecular results. Molecular data should be compared and correlated with micro-morphological and ultrastructural information before systematic rearrangements are undertaken. Visualization of the distribution of morphological and other characters in specified groups is considered as a desirable result per se, but it is also important to discover whether correlating characters are dependent on each other or not; and if not, whether their distribution in a group might support existing classification concepts. A data set for lecanoralean and other lichenized and lichenicolous genera, comprising 90—mostly multi-state— characters was used to store morphological, chemical and ecological data, and to test character correlations. Several examples of such analyses are presented. The following pairs of characters show some degree of dependence: ascospore septation and number per ascus, ascospore wall type and pigmentation, ascospore and epihymenium pigmentation. Several authors postulated that ascus types are good phylogenetic markers. Ascus types have been widely used for classification concepts of the Lecanorales. Two-dimensional correlation queries of ascus types with the following morphologcal characters were made: substratum preference, thallus growth form and ascospore septation. These correlations supply characteristic profiles for the various ascus types, which have to be compared with forthcoming phylogenetic hypotheses based on molecular data.

The lichenicolous fungi Arthrorhaphis aeruginosa R. Sant. & Tønsb. On Cladonia spp. and Arthrorhaphis olivaceae R. Sant. & Tonsb. on Melanelia olivacea are described as new from Norway, Scotland and western North America, and from Sweden, respectively.

Sclerophyton is reported for the first time from India and two species ofthis genus, namely S. elegans Eschw. and a new species S. indicum U. V. Makhija & B. A. Adawadkar are recorded.