Xanthoparmelia stenophylla, the correct name for X. somloënsis, one of the most widespread usnic acid containing species of the genus

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Our close colleague for 30–40 years, the late Mason E. Hale Jr (1928–1990), was one of the most outstanding lichenologists of the 20th century. While he was terminally ill, he was anxious to complete his world monograph of Xanthoparmelia which he saw through to publication, and accepted 406 species (Hale 1990). Throughout the later periods of his career, his major aim was to document and describe the enormous extent of diversity in the graphidaceous and parmelioid lichens worldwide, and especially in the tropics where he travelled and collected extensively, describing numerous species new to science, 386 in parmelioid groups (Hale & DePriest 1999). In his later years he had, understandably, little time for the nuances of the Code, and, if the principle of adopting proposals for the protection of Names in Current Use (Greuter 1991) had been adopted this would have not caused problems. Sadly it was not, which means that some issues have to be reconsidered. One of these is the correct name for one of the commonest species of Xanthoparmelia, for which he used the name X. somloënsis in his monograph. During the last 15 years, many lichenologists have followed Hale in adopting X. somloënsis, but the nomenclaturally correct name for this species proves to be X. stenophylla.