Biatora Britannica sp. nov is described from Wales. The species is the sorediate sister taxon of the Madeiran Biatora hertelii. The close relationship is supported by the presence of the hymenial pigment Hertelii-green, which is hitherto known only from these two species. Molecular data from the nuclear ITS-region of 14 Bratora¯ species renders further support for the close relationship of both species. Sterile, sorediate material from the British Isles earlier referred to B. efflorescens may in fact belong to B. britannica.

Cladonia monomorpha is recognized as a distinct species in the Cladonia pyxidata group. It is characterized by thallus lobes with narrowly recurved margins, by the presence of discoid, bullate plates on the podetial surface and by long and sometimes branched proliferations of the scyphus margins supporting the apothecium discs. It is described from the Netherlands, where it occurs in acid inland sand dune areas with the highest terrestrial lichen diversity. It appears to be widespread in Europe on siliceous rock and acid sand.

A taxonomic revision of the lichenized species of the genus Omphalina in the Iberian Peninsula is presented, based upon fungal and lichen herbarium material, as well as on fresh collections. Relevant morphological and ecological features are discussed and a diagnostic key is provided. Four lichenized species, O. ericetorum, O. hudsoniana, O. meridionalis and O. velutina are recognized. A squamulose vegetative thallus (Coriscium-type) is present only in O. hudsoniana, while the other three species form a thallus of hyphal globules (Botrydina-type). Anatomical features of the vegetative thallus cannot be used to distinguish between these last three species. Whilst O. hudsoniana is known only from the montane belt of the Eurosiberian Region and O. meridionalis seems to restricted to the Mediterranean Region, living in more or less humid sites of the Supramediterranean belt, the other two species, O. ericetorum and O. velutina, are widespread.

A new lichen species, Micarea viridileprosa, is described from western Europe, where it is locally very common. This species, which has previously been much overlooked, is corticolous, lignicolous and terricolous and is usually found sterile. Some specimens of the new species were formerly included in Micarea prasina,. The new combination Micarea levicula (Nyl.) Coppins is made for Lecidea levicula Nyl. from Cuba.

Lepraria atlantica is described as new from acidic rocks in the British Isles; it contains porphyrilic acid, cf. rangiformic acid or rarely cf. roccellic acid, and atranorin. It differs from L. cacumimim in the diffuse, powdery thallus. It is morphologically similar to L. jackii, but differs in the possession of porphyrilic acid.

Micarea xanthonica sp. nov. is described from the western British Isles, westernmost Norway and the Pacific Northwest of North America. It belongs to the M. prasina group, but differs from related species in possessing xanthones in the thallus.

Fellhanera gyrophorica Sérus., Coppins, Diederich & Scheidegger is described as new from Europe Austria, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Switzerland and Ukraine. It is a sterile corticolous species with conspicuous and sometimes shortly stalked pycnidia whose outer walls produce gyrophoric acid. Its position in the genus Fellhanera (Pilocarpaceae) is tentative and further studies may necessitate its transfer to another genus.

Caloplaca thuringiaca Søchting & Stordeur is described from detritus on dry south-exposed slopes in Thuringia, central Germany. The species belongs to the Caloplaca holocarpa complex, but is different from the other terricolous taxa described in the complex, which all have alpine or polar distributions.

A cladistic analysis of the Physciaceae, based on morphological and chemical data, is presented. In the resulting phylogenetic reconstruction two major clades are formed, one containing the foliose genera (Anaptychia, Dirinana, Heterodermia, Hyperphyscia, Physcia, Phaeophyscia, Physconia, Pyxine) and the fruticose Tornabea and the other containing the remaining, mainly crustose genera. Rinodina appears as paraphyletic with representatives both at the base of the tree, at the same level as the two major clades and at the base of the crustose clade. Also Mobergia has a basal position. The characters used and their distribution in the phylogenetic trees are discussed as well as their significance for the identification of monophyletic groups. The history of the family is also briefly hinted at and characters of importance for the recognition of new genera are surveyed. Relevant publications and the variation in secondary chemistry are presented in tables.

In the framework of ongoing studies on tropical representatives of Bacidiasensu lato, six species so far included in that genus are transferred to Fellhanera: Fellhanera Africana(Vězda) Lücking comb. nov. (Bas.: Bacidia Africana (Vězda), Fellhanera albidocincta Vain.) Lücking comb. nov. (Bas.: Bilimbia albidocincta Vain.), Fellhanera fragilis (Vězda) Lücking & Kalb comb. nov. (Bas.: Bacidia fragilis (Vězda), Fellhanera mastothallina (Vain.) Lücking & Serus. comb.nov. (Bas.: Bacidia mastothallina Vain.), Fellhanera naevia(Vain.) Lücking & Caceres comb. nov. (Bas.: Bacidia naevia Vain.), and Fellhanera submicrommata (Vězda) Lücking & Kalb comb. nov. (Bas.: Bacidia submicrommata Vězda). Fellhanera angustispora Lücking is reduced into synonymy with F. naevia.

The new genus Sporostigma is introduced for the remarkable species Arthonia melaspora. The genus is characterized by mazaediate ascomata and dark brown ascospores. Relationships with other genera are discussed.

Based on collections gathered by H. Streimann and J. A. Elix in Papua New Guinea, Australia (including Tasmania), and Vanuatu, five new foliicolous lichen species are described: Calenia bullatinoides Lücking, Eremothecella cyaneoides Lücking, Fellhanera tasmanica Lücking & Elix, Fellhaneropsis australiana Lücking, and Porina vanuatuensis Lücking. In addition, the following new combinations are proposed: Coenogonium isidiiferum (Lücking) Lücking [Bas.: Dimerella isidiifera Lücking], Coenogonium lisowskii (Vězda) Lücking [Bas.: Dimerella lisowskii Vězda], Coenogonium queenslandicum (Kalb & Vězda) Lücking [Bas.: Dimerella queenslandica Kalb & Vězda], Echinoplaca tetrapla (Zahlbr.) Lücking [Bas.: Gonolecania tetrapla Zahlbr.], and Porina subepiphylla var. australiensis (Lücking & Vězda) Lücking [Bas.: Porina lucida var. australiensis Lücking & Vězda]. Coenogonium piliferum (Vězda) Kalb & Lěcking [Bas.: Dimerella pilifera Vě zda] is placed into synonymy with Coenogonium epiphyllum Vain. An updated checklist of foliicolous lichens from Australia includes 202 species and excludes five previously reported taxa.

Amphorothecium occultum P. M. McCarthy, Kantvilas & Elix gen. et sp. nov. is described from deeply shaded, saxicolous bryophytes in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia. This genus is characterized by a trentepohlioid photobiont, distinctive thallus chemistry, pale, simple perithecia, largely unbranched paraphyses and periphyses, thin-walled, non-amyloid asci and very large, multiseptate ascospores. Its systematic position is uncertain.

The current delimitation of the family Physciaceae has been generally accepted since detailed descriptions of ascus characters allowed for a more natural circumscription of lichenized ascomycetes. The generic relations within the family are, however, still controversial and depend on the importance different authors attribute to specific morphological or chemical characteristics. The aim of this paper is to describe ascospore ontogeny and to test the present taxonomic structure of the family against a parsimony-based cladistic analysis, which includes three different scenarios of a priori character weighting. A study of ascospore ontogeny revealed two distinct developmental lines. One line revealed a delayed septum formation, which clearly showed transitions from spores with apical and median thickenings to spores without apical, but still well developed median thickenings, and to spores without any thickenings. In the second developmental line with an early septum formation again taxa with no thickenings, median thickenings, and both median and apical thickenings were found. Although these characters were constant at a species level, median wall thickenings especially varied among otherwise closely related taxa. In the cladistic analyses the current taxonomic structure of the Physciaceae was only obtained after the five character groups, namely morphology and anatomy of the vegetative thallus, conidiomata and conidia, morphology and anatomy of the apothecia, ontogeny of the ascospores, and secondary metabolites of the thallus, were given equal importance, and after a subjective a priori weighting further increased the weight of the three characters ‘conidial shape’, ‘presence of apical thickenings’, and ‘spore septation delayed’. This structure was not supported by a cladistic analysis with equally weighted characters but reflected the biased character weighting of the present day Physdaceae taxonomy. The taxonomic importance of conidial characters and of anatomical and ontogenetical spore characteristics need, therefore, a careful reconsideration in future.

Twenty-six taxa of Trichotheliaceae are reported from rock, bark and leaves on Christmas Island in the north-eastern Indian Ocean. Trichothelium oceanicum P. M. McCarthy sp. nov., a common foliicolous species, is described.

A new corticolous lichen, Rinodina turfaceoides, is described from the Serra de Estrela (Portugal). It is characterized mainly by the blastidiate thallus, large apothecia covered by a thick, yellow-orange pruina, large Physcia-type ascospores and chemistry. The new species is compared with the closely related but mainly muscicolous, R. turfacea, as well as with other corticolous Rinodina species with vegetative propagules, including R. colobinoides and R. disjuncta. Habit photographs of the new species and illustrations of its ascospores are also provided.

The new lichenicolous fungus Gelatinopsis roccellae is described from NW Spain, where it grows on Roccella fuciformis and R. phycopsis. It differs from G. ericewrum, which grows on Dibaeis, by the shorter ascospores, smaller ascomata, and the absence of an olivaceous excipular and epihymenial pigment.

Two new species of lichens are described from the Iberian Peninsula. Halecania giraltiae is the first sorediate saxicolous species known in the genus and has been collected growing on lichens and sometimes directly on rock in localities from northern Portugal to central Spain. Catillaria fungoides, a sorediate, corticolous representative of the C. nigroclavata group, is known from southern Portugal and northern Spain.

Three new species which have previously been confused with Pannaria rubiginosa are described. The first, Pannaria complanata sp. nov., from southern India, has a possibly subtropical Afro-Asian distribution, the second, Pannaria emodii sp. nov., may be restricted to the eastern Himalayas from Bhutan to Sichuan China, and the third, Pannaria ramulosa sp. nov. is known only from Java. The last two species are both related to Pannaria asahinae P. M. Jørg. from Japan. A fourth new species from southern Taiwan, the isidiate Pannaria formosana, is closely related to Pannaria ramosa Vain., a little known species from the Philippines.