The lichen Fuscopannaria leucosticta (Tuck.) P. M. Jørg. found in the tropics

Extract

In a recent treatment of the Pannariceae of Ecuador, Jørgensen & Arvidsson (2004: 131) pointed out the surprising absence of the genus Fuscopannaria in Ecuador, a genus which is rather common, with many species, in the Pacific Northwest of North America (Jørgensen 2001). The authors claim that, on the western side of the Americas, the genus appears to stop north of Mexico, only to reappear in southern Chile and Argentina. While going through his material, the second author discovered two specimens belonging in this genus from Mexico and Ecuador, which contradicts that statement. Both are typical Fuscopannaria leucosticta specimens (Fig. 1), the type species of the genus originally described from eastern North America (Jørgensen 2001: 684), and fairly widely distributed in warm temperate parts there, and extending as far south as Cuba (Fig. 2).