Lecanora albescens (Hoffm.) Branth & Rostr. is the correct authorship of this species, and the combination cannot be attributed to Flörke. Lecanora antiqua J. R. Laundon is described for the lichen previously, but wrongly, known in Britain as L. conferta; it is remarkable in occupying the interface between acid and calcareous surfaces on the vertical walls of medieval churches. The nomenclature of the lobed Lecanora, which has had two alternative Latin names since the early 19th century, namely L. muralis Rabenh. and L. saxicola (Pollich) Ach., has been studied and the latter was found to be correct.

A taxonomic treatment of the genera included in Catapyrenium s. lat. in the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands is provided, based on study of c. 2000 specimens from both herbaria and fresh material collected by the authors from 2005 to 2009 in numerous localities.

A total of 33 species belonging to six of the eight genera included in Catapyrenium s. lat. are present in the region, which correspond to c. 80% of species from Europe. The genera are Anthracocarpon Breuss, Catapyrenium Flot. (Catapyrenium s. str.), Heteroplacidium Breuss, Involucropyrenium Breuss, Neocatapyrenium H. Harada and Placidium A. Massal. The genus Neocatapyrenium is reported for the first time from this region. Clavascidium liratum, the only representative of the genus Clavascidium in the region, has been reduced to synonymy with Anthracocarpon virescens.

Heteroplacidium acervatum, H. congestum and Neocatapyrenium cladonioideum are new to Europe. Involucropyrenium pusillum, only previously known from Austria, I. waltheri, an arctic-alpine species, and Neocatapyrenium latzelii, known from Croatia and Greece, are cited for the first time in the Iberian Peninsula. Placidium subrufescens and P. tenellum, two mainly Mediterranean species, are also new records from the Iberian Peninsula. Placidium boccanum is here for the first time cited in Spain, and Anthracocarpon virescens, Heteroplacidium contumescens, Placidium imbecillum and P. michelii are new to Portugal. Most of the remaining species showed a considerable expansion of their known ranges. Placidium pyrenaicum is reduced to synonymy with P. velebiticum.

Keys to genera and species occurring in the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands are presented.

Caloplaca phlogina is shown here to have two kinds of soralia, yellow soralia with anthraquinones versus whitish or white-green soralia lacking pigments. Both kinds are present, growing side by side, in some localities in Scandinavia, but yellow soralia appear to be more common. In contrast, the populations from halophilous shrubs on the Black Sea coast have predominantly white soralia, and they were described as a separate species, C. scythica. A single collection from Chile also has white soralia. Molecular data and phenotype examinations convinced us that Scandinavian and Black Sea populations are conspecific. We consider the North European, phenotypically variable population as a source for the Black Sea population which is ecologically and phenotypically more uniform.

Well-developed ascospores of Rinodina flavosoralifera have been observed for the first time. The ascospores are described and illustrated and new data on the chemistry and distribution of this species are provided. New chorological data on Rinodina disjuncta are also included.

The new species Parmeliella borbonica is described. It belongs in a small group of species, which, unlike all other Parmeliella species except those of the Parmeliella mariana group, have thalline squamulose margins of the apothecia, and are thus superficially reminiscent of Pannaria. The group is mainly Indo-pacific. A key to the species is given. Parmeliella borbonica appears to be an addition to the many remarkable endemic members of the Pannariaceae found in Réunion which has retained old Gondwana elements, as its lowland forests have not been destroyed as much as those in the neighbouring region. The very rare Coccocarpia imbricascens Nyl. was found as new to the island, and the rare endemic Pannaria multifida P. M. Jørg close to its type locality.

In the present paper four etomentose species of Leptogium are recorded from Maharashtra, western India. Three species, viz. Leptogium patwardhanii Dube & Makhija sp. nov., Leptogium subazureum Dube & Makhija sp. nov., and Leptogium verrucosum Dube & Makhija sp. nov., are described as new to science and one species, Leptogium propaguliferum Vain., is recorded for the first time from India. A revised key to the non-hairy species of Leptogium from India is provided.

Leiorreuma subpatellulum is described as new to science. The new species has a completely carbonized exciple, an inspersed hymenium and brown ascospores with 6–12 locules, tapering at one end.

Eleven species are recognized of which C. bogilana and C. subflavorubescens are described here as new to science while nine species (C. cinnabarina, C. decipiens, C. ferruginea, C. inconspecta, C. pellodella, C. scopularis, C. stantonii, C. squamosa and C. subsoluta) are reported for the first time for South Korea. Both new species are peculiar due to their secondary chemistry; anthraquinones along with atranorin, gyrophoric acid and lecanoric acid in C. bogilana, and gyrophoric acid together with anthraquinones in C. subflavorubescens.

Buellia rhizocarpica is described from Mexico. This corticolous species is characterized by a yellowish, granulose thallus, the presence of rhizocarpic acid and an unknown pulvinic acid derivative, apothecia containing large amounts of micromera-green together with yellow crystals which react K+ pinkish and by the presence of very small, Buellia-type ascospores. It grows in a well-preserved Pinus hartwegii forest at c. 4000 m altitude at the base of the volcano Popocatepetl.

Aspiciliopsis macrophthalma, Placopsis fusciduloides, P. gelidioides and P. tararuana are reported for the first time from southern South America. New records for 13 species of Placopsis in southern South America are reported, and a revised key to 22 species of Placopsis and A. macrophthalma in the region is given.

The ecologically important lichen Cladonia stellaris forms thick carpets in boreal forest floors. In addition to affecting temperature and water conditions in the soil underneath, the secondary metabolites formed by the lichen layer are of ecological interest. In this paper, we investigated the distribution of lichen acids in C. stellaris collected at different latitudes in Finland and developed methods to quantify the two optical enantiomers of usnic acid separately. The lichen extracts were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV and mass spectrometric (MS) detection and by gas chromatography with flame ionization (GC-FID) and MS detection. Usnic acid and perlatolic acid were quantified using GC-FID. The concentration of usnic acid in the top 20 mm of the lichen thallus ranged from 0·48–3·08% of dry weight, and that of perlatolic acid from 0·08–0·54%. The enantiomeric composition of usnic acid was determined using a chiral HPLC column coupled to an electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometer. (−)-Usnic acid was found to be the predominating enantiomer in all extracts; the proportion of (+)-usnic acid ranged from 0·4%–10·0%. Olivetoric acid methyl ester, diphenylmethanol, and 5-pentylresorcinol were identified, and several other olivetoric acid-type compounds were tentatively identified in the extracts.

The genetic diversity within and among populations of Xanthoria parietina was studied at the subspecific level with a fingerprinting technique (RAPD-PCR) applied to sterile cultured multispore isolates, each being derived from a single apothecium. Populations from coastal, rural and urban sites from NW, SW and central France and from NE Switzerland were investigated. Between 1 and 8 microsites of a few decimetres square, each comprising 13 to 27 thalli of X. parietina, were analysed per population. A total of 132 isolates from epiphytic and 3 isolates from epilithic specimens were investigated. Phenotypic variation was recorded among some of the thalli in the field and among sterile cultured isolates in the laboratory. A high diversity of genotypes was observed, even among thalli growing side by side in phenotypically homogenous populations. An average of 73·5 % polymorphism was found in all samples. As shown with Principal Coordinates Analysis (PCO), most of the genetic variation (90%) resided within, not among, populations. As X. parietina had previously been shown with molecular and fingerprinting techniques to be homothallic, the potential genetic background of this diversity is discussed. Intense genotype rather than gene (allele) flow seems to be an important element in X. parietina populations.