The first lichen records from the Lakshadweep (Laccadive) Islands are presented.Lithothelium insulare (Pyrenulaceae) is described as new and nine other taxa are reported. The poor lichen flora, dominated by pantropical species, is probably a result of the lack of natural habitats in this area.

Some enzymes, particularly esterases and phosphatases, are commonly variable within lichen populations. Mycobiont cultures of Cladonia cristatella Tuck, were examined electrophoretically in order to determine whether isozymes of these enzymes varied among 12 cultures initiated from single ascospores of the same apothecium. There were significant differences among mycobionts with respect to growth in liquid malt-yeast medium, and there was isozymic variability among them just as there is among intact thalli in natural lichen populations. These results are consistent with the idea that in nature ascospores could participate in the reproductive process. Enzymatic differences within a population may originate from propagules, including sexual ones, which initiate individual thalli.

Felihanera viridisorediata Aptroot, Brand & Spier, a corticolous sorediate species commonly found sterile, is described from fertile material on Juglans glabra in the Netherlands. It was also found with apothecia on, for example, twigs of Vaccinium myrtillus, Lonicera, and other trees. It seems to be common and rapidly spreading in sheltered habitats in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, also occasionally on wood, roofs, granite and brick. It is close to other Felihanera species, especially F. seroexpectata and F. viridis, but it differs in the paler soredia, smaller, 1-septate and constricted ascospores and the presence of roccellic acid.

The new lichen species Cladonia krogiana is described from eight localities in SE Norway. It resembles C. polycarpoides morphologically, but differs in containing barbaric acid and chlorovinetorin.

Biatora hertelii Printzen & Etayo and B. troendelagica Holien & Printzen are described as new to science. Diagnostic characters, systematic affinities, ecology and distribution of both species are briefly discussed. Divaricatic acid is reported for the first time from a species of Biatora

%Thelidium rimosulum sp. nov. is described from limestone in an industrialized area near Piechcin, north-central Poland (Kujawy). The species is mainly characterized by the small, bicellular ascospores, a well-developed involucrellum and a thin, often isidiate or sorediate, thallus.

Epiphytic lichens are increasingly included in forest biodiversity monitoring schemes, but most of the standardized guidelines consider only lichens colonizing a small part of tree trunks (1·0–1·5 m) and overlook other important microhabitats, such as fallen branches and stumps. In this paper, we present results of a small-scale pilot study to evaluate the possible advantage of including four distinct microhabitats in standardized procedures for assessing epiphytic lichen diversity. Trunk bases, trunks between 100 and 150 cm above the ground, stumps, and fallen branches were each sampled with a different standardized sampling method along a forest age gradient in temperate deciduous forests of the Caucasian region. Plot-level species richness was contrasted between the standardized sampling procedures of different substrata and a non-probabilistic floristic sampling. The interactions between sampling procedure and stand age were analysed using linear mixed models, and non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and multi-response permutation procedures (MRPP) were used for comparing species composition. Overall, 97 species were recorded, their richness increasing with increasing stand age. Results were consistent across the gradient of stand age and demonstrated that the adoption of standardized sampling procedures which include stumps and fallen branches in addition to tree trunks would increase the capability of maximizing species capture. This approach would allow researchers to evaluate lichen patterns by simultaneously considering the response of different communities sensitive to different stand-related factors. Despite the likelihood that a non-probabilistic floristic survey would give a more exhaustive picture of the plot-level lichen diversity, standardized sampling procedures that include tree trunks, fallen branches and stumps are likely to represent a reasonable trade-off between exhaustiveness and cost-effectiveness.

Amandinea lobarica, a new corticolous lichen species, is described from high elevations in Guatemala. It is characterized by a thin, granulose, brownish thallus containing lobaric acid, small, convex lecideine apothecia, filiform conidia and large, narrowly ellipsoid ascospores with roughly ornamented walls. The new species is compared with other Buellia s. lat. taxa that possess rather large and strongly ornamented ascospores, such as Buellia hypothallina, here placed in synonymy with Gassicurtia vaccinii, Amandinea leucomela, A. mediospora, A. megaspora, A. subduplicata and five very closely related taxa treated here as belonging to the Amandinea incrustans group. Two tables summarizing the main differences between these species and a key are provided. New data on the chemistry of A. leucomela and a new record of A. montana for Guatemala are also included.

Psammina inflate Earland-Bennett & D. Hawksw. and P. simplex Earland-Bennett & D. Hawksw. are described as new species from coccoid green algae and crustose or leprose lichens in lowland Britain. Additional records and hosts for P. stipitata are reported, and a key to the four species now known in the British Isles is presented. Psammina simplex is the more strongly pathogenic of the species, eventually destroying its hosts. The discovery of these new sp cies adds weight to the view that the genus is more appropriately regarded as a hyphomycete rather than an acervular coelomycete. The size, shape and septation dimensions of the conidial arms were found to be the most reliable characters for specie separations in the genus. Pycnopsammina lobariae Diederich & Etayo is also cited from the British Isles for the first time.