The new conidial lichenicolous fungus Calongia gibelluloides gen. sp. nov. is described from discoloured soredial patches on thalli of Flavoparmelia caperata and discoloured squamules of a Cladonia species collected in northern Spain. It is especially unusual in its minute size, the solitary conidiophores reaching at most 45 μm and bearing a cluster of conidiogenous cells that are at first enclosed by a membranous sheath, and produce 1-septate narrowly ellipsoid to elongate-reniform or elongate-soleiform fuscous conidia. The fungus has some features that recall the entomogenous hypocrealean genus Gibellula, but species of that genus have synnematous conidiomata, ornamented conidiophores, phialidic conidiogenous cells, no membranous vesicle, and non-septate conidia produced in chains. The phylogenetic placement remains uncertain in the absence of a teleomorph or molecular evidence.

Pronectria collematis, growing on Collema auriforme, C. cristatum, and C. undulatum, is described from Germany and Spain.

Elixia cretica T. Sprib. & Lumbsch is described as a new species from the mountains of western Crete. The second member of the previously monotypic genus and only the third member of the family Elixiaceae, it is distinguished by its surficial thallus, larger ascospores and corticolous habit. Molecular phylogenetic analysis based on a sequence of mitochondrial small subunit DNA confirms the position of the new species. We also report E. flexella from New Hampshire (USA) as new to eastern North America.

Cladonia rei and Cladonia subulata are morphologically similar, but chemically different cup lichens of dry grasslands and nutrient-poor ruderal habitats. Recently, C. rei has been synonymized with C. subulata on the basis of combined morphological and chemical investigations. However, doubts remained due to a molecular divergent North American sample of C. rei compared to European C. subulata. To clarify the situation, using molecular methods, we analysed chemically different European samples of C. rei and C. subulata, as well as other morphologically or chemically similar Cladonia species. Molecular data show that European and North American samples of C. rei belong to the same clade, which is closely related to C. fimbriata and followed by a subclade with C. coniocraea and C. ochrochlora. The subclade of C. subulata appears to be distinct from C. rei. In concordance with molecular data, the presence of homosekikaic acid is the determining chemical feature for C. rei. In addition, C. humilis and C. innominata proved to be molecularly distinct species.

The new species Leptogium sphaerosporum from Langtang in Nepal is described. It is closely related to L. pedicellatum, but differs in being more delicate with phyllidia and having spheroid spores. It is most probably a local species of the lower montane forests. An emendation to the world key of hairy Leptogium species is presented.

Two species of the lichen genus Carbacanthographis, namely C. marcescens and a new species, C. sorediata, are reported from India. The new species is characterized by a sorediate thallus, laterally carbonized exciple, submuriform ascospores, and salazinic and consalazinic acids in the thallus. A worldwide key to the species of Carbacanthographis is provided.

Stigmidium humidum is described from Spain and Turkey on Thelenella muscorum (Fr.) Vain. (syn Chromatochlamys muscorum (Fr.) H. Mayrhofer & Poelt). The species is the first Stigmidium s. str. species on a host lichen of the family Thelenellaceae and is compared with other species with ‘Type a’ pseudoparaphyses.

In North America the names Punctelia subrudecta and P. perreticulata have variously been applied to corticolous sorediate Punctelia specimens with lecanoric acid and a pale lower surface. ITS1, 5.8S, and ITS2 sequence data were generated from a geographically and morphologically broad sampling from within these specimens, and a molecular phylogeny was inferred. A combined approach using morphology, geography, and phylogeny was used to circumscribe three distinct species in North America, one of which is described as new to science (P. caseana), one of which is finally confirmed for the continent (P. jeckeri), and one whose original circumscription is validated (P. perreticulata). The phylogeny inferred from ITS sequence data supports the taxonomic value of the following morphological characters for distinguishing species in this group: presence/absence of pruina; conidium type and length (although see discussion of P. jeckeri), and presence/absence of scrobiculae on the upper surface. A key to the North American species of Punctelia is provided.

Using the nuclear ITS (nuITS) region of the ribosomal DNA and an MP/Bayesian approach, a phylogenetic study was carried out to evaluate the relationship of Parmelia lindmanii with other members of the parmelioid lichen group. Our results showed that P. lindmanii does not belong to the genus Myelochroa, as previously proposed, but is within the clade containing the type species of Parmelinella.

Five taxa of the genera Omphalodina and Rhizoplaca known from continental Antarctica are reassessed in order to identify a remarkable species collected from northern Victoria Land, for which the new combination Rhizoplaca macleanii (C.W. Dodge) Castello is proposed here. This poorly known species is known only from continental Antarctica. Two synonyms are discussed: Omphalodina exsulans (Th. Fr.) C. W. Dodge and O. siplei (C. W. Dodge & G. E. Baker) C. W. Dodge are synonyms of Rhizoplaca melanophthalma (DC.) Leuckert & Poelt. The correct name of another species is Tephromela priestleyi (C. W. Dodge) Øvstedal. The name O. johnstonii (C. W. Dodge) C. W. Dodge should be abandoned, type material being too scanty for a reliable identification. A contribution to the flora of the Terra Nova Bay area (northern Victoria Land) is provided, with two additional species, including Buellia vilis Th. Fr. new to Antarctic regions, and two nomenclatural corrections.

In this study, types of species in the genus Buellia described by J. Steiner are reviewed. Previously ignored holotypes of B. alboatra var. epipolioides, B. caesioatra, B. leptina, B. procellarum var. continuior, B. skutariensis f. compacta and B. skottsbergii are identified, lectotypes and isolectotypes of B. gotlandica, B. saxorum var. flavescens, B. skutariensis, B. skutariensis f. geographica and B. subtumida are designated, and the presumed holotypes of B. incrustans, B. sardiniensis, B. tergestina, B. trifracta and Diplotomma epipolium var. reagens are corrected to lectotypes. Further, the typification of B. stillingiana is reassessed. Amandinea skottsbergii (J. Steiner & Zahlbr.) Şenkard. and B. flavescens (J. Steiner) Şenkard. are proposed as new combinations. It is argued that the varieties Buellia alboatra var. epipolioides, B. procellarum var. continuior, B. subdisciformis f. compacta (=B. skutariensis f. compacta) and B. subdisciformis f. geographica (=B. skutariensis f. geographica) should no longer be recognized but regarded as synonyms of these species. Buellia leptina is regarded as a synonym of Diploicia subcanescens and B. subtumida is reduced to being a synonym of B. dispersa. Finally, new locations are provided for B. flavescens from Italy and B. sardiniensis from France.

Two asexual reproductive strategies of the common lichen Pseudevernia furfuracea are described. Although the species propagates mainly by isidia, some specimens also show the development of soralia. Morphological, chemical and molecular analyses were performed on three such sorediate specimens from the Canary Islands, Morocco and Turkey. Maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses indicate that: a) sorediate samples represent only a morphological variant of the reproductive mode and b) the separation of taxa (at species level or below) on the basis of their containing either olivetoric acid or physodic and oxyphysodic acids is not appropriate. In addition, a phylogenetic reconstruction of the genus Pseudevernia is presented for the first time. The tree shows two sister monophyletic clades, one containing American species (P. intensa, P. cladonia, P. consocians), and the second encompassing the P. furfuracea samples (including sorediate specimens). The biological and taxonomic significance of soralia in sorediate samples is discussed.

Fungi that are unrelated to the mycobiont species frequently colonize lichens. Some of these fungal colonists are described lichenicolous fungi, lichen parasites and pathogens that produce recognizable morphological characters, while others apparently produce no noticeable structures. Here we apply the single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) technique to directly assess the abundance of different fungi in lichens. Twenty-eight lichen thalli were chosen, some with and some without externally visible symptoms of parasite infection, and these were subjected to total DNA extraction. PCR was conducted with fungal-specific primers for the ITS region of ribosomal DNA. Single strands of the products were separated on native acrylamide gels. The majority of lichen specimens, both infected and those without symptoms, displayed more than one band in the stained gels. In one case, 14 bands were detected using SSCP. Some of these bands apparently represent other neighbouring lichens in the habitat, but many are apparently non-lichen-forming. Since few lichen-associated fungi have been cultured and sequenced, it is difficult to know if SSCP bands represent obligate lichenicolous fungi, other asymptomatic lichen parasites, or fungi not obligately associated with lichens, but our results indicate that large numbers of non-lichen-forming fungi commonly co-occur with lichens in nature. For specimens of the filamentous lichens Cystocoleus ebeneus and Racodium rupestre we used cloned sequences to compare the number of sequences obtained by the SSCP method to the number obtained by direct sequencing of thallus extracts, and we generally found that more sequences could be detected by SSCP than could be seen by direct sequencing.

Based on findings in vascular plants showing that the capacity to provide enough carbon skeletons for rapid ammonium assimilation into amino acids is a prerequisite for tolerance to eutrophication, we tested the hypothesis that lichens from shady habitats are particularly sensitive to nitrogen pollution. We tested this hypothesis using published ecological indicator values (estimates of eutrophication tolerance and light preferences on an ordinal scale) for more than 500 central European lichen species. Our results show that shade-adapted lichens are indeed at the same time intolerant to eutrophication. However, not all eutrophication-sensitive lichens inhabit shady environments, suggesting the existence of several independent mechanisms causing intolerance of high nitrogen levels in lichens. The correlation of shade adaptation with nitrogen intolerance is limited to epiphytic and saxicolous species, since terricolous lichens are out-competed by vascular plants in dense vegetation. Our results suggest that lichen communities of shady bark, wood and rock are particularly sensitive to eutrophication.