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.

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.

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.

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.

Three new species, Chaenothecopsis eugenia, Chaenothecopsis vinosa and Chaenothecopsis weiana are described from the Gongga Mountains in China. Chaenothecopsis pibsa is reported as new to Eurasia, and Chaenotheca sphaerocephala as new to Asia. Three genera, Cyphelium, Pyrgidium and Stenocybe, and 13 species are reported as new to China. Descriptions and illustrations of the new species are presented along with data on their habitat ecology and distribution.

The Coccotremataceae is a small family including two genera: Coccotrema with a crustose, granulate to verrucose thallus and Lepolichen with terete lobes and rhizines. The generic concept based on this morphological difference was re-evaluated using three molecular markers, mt SSU rDNA, nu LSU rDNA, and the nu ITS region. The analysis of the ITS region does not provide sufficient resolution within the Coccotremataceae, while the other two data sets contradict the current generic concept. The mt SSU and nu LSU data sets and the combined analysis of the two data sets all place Lepolichen within Coccotrema. However, an alternative topology with monophyletic Coccotrema cannot be rejected when the ITS data set is included in the combined analyses. This shortcoming of the ITS data set can be overcome by the combined analysis of all three data sets, where monophyletic Coccotrema can be rejected using parametric bootstrapping, as in the mt SSU and nu LSU data sets and combination thereof. It is proposed to reduce Lepolichen into synonymy with Coccotrema. The correct name for the only species previously placed in Lepolichen is Coccotrema coccophontm (Mont.) I. Schmitt, Messuti & Lumbsch.

The subantarctic genus Orceolina is revised and two species are accepted, i.e. Orceolina antarctica Mull. Arg. R. S. Poulsen Søchting comb. nov. and Orceolina kerguelensis (Tuck.) Hertel. Descriptions of the species are provided. In addition the phylogeny of the genus Orceolina and allied taxa was investigated using nucleotide sequences of the LSU rRNA gene. Sequences from these regions of nine agyrialean fungi were aligned to those of four representatives of Pertusariales used as outgroup. The alignment was analysed cladistically using maximum parsimony. The two Orceolina clustered together within the Agyriaceae. The placement in the family is supported by high bootstrap values and the Kishino-Hasegawa test.

The results of an investigation into the lichen vegetation associated with vascular plant communities in the Scottish Highlands are presented. Most lichen species rarely occur in homogeneous stands of vascular plant vegetation, either occurring around the edges of recognized National Vegetation Classification (NVC) communities or in small-scale mosaics with them. However, some lichen species have a high fidelity to the more open NVC communities. The problems associated with applying NVC survey techniques to lichen assemblages are described and discussed.

The pH of 192 thin, even-aged twigs from 4 height levels of 12 randomly selected trees within a boreal Picea abies canopy naturally exposed to rainfall with a high pH (>5·2) was measured. The largest variation in bark pH was due to the height above the ground. However, a highly significant horizontal variation between trees was also found, apparently due to small-scale soil variations. The biomass of alectorioid lichens increased with increasing height above die ground to at least 12 m, a height interval with fairly constant pH values. The uppermost twigs had an unusually high pH and an abnormal species composition for P. abies, with dominance of the foliose Melanelia exasperatula. The canopy hosted several cyanobacterial lichens, but these were scattered and had low biomass, restricted to lower branches of the trees with the highest bark pH.

A rapid method to isolate intact functional algae from the lichens Evemia prunastri and Ramalina farinacea has been developed. This method is based on the use of Percoll® gradients after mechanical disruption of lichen thalli. Results obtained show that the algal preparations were virtually free of contamination by fungal hyphae. The purified algal cells were photosynthetically active and without symptoms of photoinhibition, which indicates their functional integrity. This method may be used for the isolation of intact algae from a broad range of lichen species.