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An examination of collections from Japan has increased the number of Brianaria and Micarea species known from that country from eight to 19, including one new species, M. rubioides Coppins (also from Malaysia and the Philippines). Eleven species are reported as new to Japan (M. botryoides (Nyl.) Coppins, M. denigrata (Fr.) Hedl., M. erratica (Körb.) Hertel et al., M. hedlundii Coppins, M. lithinella (Nyl.) Hedl., M. micrococca (Körb.) Gams ex Coppins and M. misella (Nyl.) Hedl.) or new to Asia: M. byssacea (Th. Fr.) Czarnota et al., M. deminuta Coppins and M. xanthonica Coppins & Tønsberg (new to Asia; Japan); M. nitschkeana (J. Lahm ex Rabenh.) Harm. (new to Asia; South Korea). The presence of Micarea prasina s. str. from Japan needs to be confirmed; no collection was found in this study. Additional collections from South Korea and Sri Lanka are also reported, including the new species M. ceylanica Coppins from Sri Lanka. The identity of M. synotheoides (Nyl.) Coppins, originally described from Japan, has been resolved, resulting in the renaming of Western European material, previously under that name, as M. longispora Coppins. Micarea coreana Lőkös et al. is reported here as a synonym of M. erratica. The type of Lecidea inopinula Nyl. requires the new combination Micarea inopinula (Nyl.) Coppins & T. Sprib. to replace Micarea prasinella (Jatta) I. M. Lamb.

Lichen symbioses are generally thought to be stabilized by the transfer of fixed carbon compounds from a photosynthesizing unicellular symbiont to a fungus. In other fungal symbioses, carbohydrate subsidies correlate with genomic reductions in the number of genes for plant cell wall-degrading enzymes (PCWDEs), but whether this is the case with lichen fungal symbionts (LFSs) is unknown. We predicted genes encoding carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) and sugar transporters in 17 existing and 29 newly sequenced genomes from across the class Lecanoromycetes, the largest extant clade of LFSs. Despite possessing lower mean numbers of PCWDE genes compared to non-symbiont Ascomycota, all LFS genomes possessed a robust suite of predicted PCWDEs. The largest CAZyme gene numbers, on par with model species such as Penicillium, were retained in genomes from the subclass Ostropomycetidae, which are found in crust lichens with highly specific ecologies. The lowest numbers were in the subclass Lecanoromycetidae, which are symbionts of many generalist macrolichens. Our results suggest that association with phototroph symbionts does not in itself result in functional loss of PCWDEs and that PCWDE losses may have been driven by adaptive processes within the evolution of specific LFS lineages. The inferred capability of some LFSs to access a wide range of carbohydrates suggests that some lichen symbioses may augment fixed CO2 with carbon from external sources.SignificanceLichen symbioses are considered self-contained autotrophic systems in which the total carbon economy is the sum of phototroph-fixed CO2, supplied to a fungus as sugars. In other fungal-plant symbioses, such as mycorrhizae, plant-derived sugar subsidies are associated with loss of plant cell wall-degrading enzymes (PCWDEs). We compared PCWDE inventories in 46 genomes from the largest group of lichen fungal symbionts (LFSs) with non-symbionts from across Ascomycota. We found that despite lower overall gene numbers, all LFSs retain PCWDEs, and some possess gene numbers and functional diversity on par with non-symbionts. Our results suggest that association with a phototroph does not necessarily result in PCWDE loss, and some lichens may obtain carbon from sources other than CO2 fixation.

Holien, H., Palice, Z., Bjork, C. R., Goward, T. & Spribille, T. 2016. Lecidea coriacea sp. nov., a lichen species from oldgrowth boreal and montane forests in Europe and North America. — Herzogia 29: 412–420. Lecidea coriacea is described as new to science from the boreal forests of Europe and montane conifer forests of northwestern North America. It is probably related to some of the species currently assigned to the genus Puttea, but is included in Lecidea awaiting a more thorough revision of this group. The species is characterized by pale to dark brown apothecia, plusiosporic asci and by the production of secalonic acid A in the hypothecium causing a golden yellow reaction with KOH. Lecidea coriacea seems to be a species of oldgrowth forests and is threatened by forestry. It often grows on old trees of Betula, Picea and Salix or on old conifer snags. Notes on similar species and other plusiosporic epiphytic and lignicolous species in boreal forests are given.

Spilonema was originally described to accommodate an unusual group of cyanolichens with thread-like, cushion-forming thalli, and has long been placed in Coccocarpiaceae based on ascomatal development. However, Spilonema is the only genus of Peltigerales to include species lichenized with the cyanobacterial genus Stigonema, and the evolutionary relationships of Spilonema to other genera in the family have yet to be tested using molecular data. We present evidence from combined nuclear 28S, 18S and mitochondrial 12S rDNA to confirm the placement of the core species of Spilonema (S. paradoxum and S. revertens) in Coccocarpiaceae. Our data further show that despite possessing a different genus of photobiont (Scytonema), the north Pacific endemic genus Spilonemella must be included within Spilonema, suggesting that closely related species of the genus have changed photobionts in the course of evolution. However, we recovered Spilonema dendroides, one of the only lichens known to associate with the cyanobacterial genus Hyphomorpha, as only distantly related to the Coccocarpiaceae. The evolutionary relationships of this species are as yet unclear but it may occupy a basal position in the Peltigerales. We create for this species the new genus Erinacellus T. Sprib., Muggia & Tønsberg.

A taxonomic and biogeographic overview of the genusMyrionorais provided. Two species are recognized,M. albidula(Willey) R. C. Harris andM. pseudocyphellariae(Etayo) S. Ekman & Palice comb. nov. The genus is characterized by polysporous asci, the presence of crystals in the hymenium and proper exciple that partly consist of lobaric acid, and a photobiont with large cells (mostly in the range 12–20 µm).Myrionora albidulais currently known from Germany, Norway, Sweden, the Russian Federation (Altayskiy Kray, Chelyabinskaya Oblast', Khabarovskiy Kray and Zabaykal'skiy Kray), and the United States (Alaska, Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts). It inhabits bark of deciduous trees and shrubs and conifers over a wide range of latitudes.Myrionora pseudocyphellariaeis known from Chile and Ecuador, where it has been encountered on lichens and decaying bark. Based on morphological characteristics, we conclude thatMyrionorabelongs in theRamalinaceae.

Lichens assemble in three parts Lichen growth forms cannot be recapitulated in the laboratory by culturing the plant and fungal partners together. Spribille et al. have discovered that the classical binary view of lichens is too simple. Instead, North American beard-like lichens are constituted of not two but three symbiotic partners: an ascomycetous fungus, a photosynthetic alga, and, unexpectedly, a basidiomycetous yeast. The yeast cells form the characteristic cortex of the lichen thallus and may be important for its shape. The yeasts are ubiquitous and essential partners for most lichens and not the result of lichens being colonized or parasitized by other organisms. Science , this issue p. 488

The Hypogymnia austerodes group is an assemblage of mostly boreal and arctic-alpine lichens traditionally comprising three wide-ranging sorediate and/or isidiate species, H. austerodes, H. bitteri and H. subobscura. Here we describe four additional members of this group – H. dichroma sp. nov., H. protea sp. nov., H. salsa sp. nov. and H. verruculosa sp. nov. – which have until now been treated within H. austerodes s. lat. Our new species are primarily epiphytic, and are currently known only from Cordilleran western North America. They differ from other members of the H. austerodes group both morphologically and in their virtually consistent production of apinnatic acid. Hypogymnia protea is by far the most variable of the new species, uniting two putative taxa here designated as morphs “disjuncta” and “tessellata”. Reliable discrimination of the segregate species requires careful attention to their vegetative reproductive structures, which are described in detail. A key to all treated species and...

The crustose lichen genusMycoblastusin the Northern Hemisphere includes eight recognized species sharing large, simple ascospores produced 1–2 per ascus in strongly pigmented biatorine apothecia. The monophyly ofMycoblastusand the relationship of its various species toTephromelataceaehave never been studied in detail. Data from ITS rDNA and the genes coding for translation elongation factor 1-α and DNA replication licensing factor mini-chromosome maintenance complex 7 support the distinctness ofMycoblastuss. str. from the core of theTephromelataceae, but recoverM. fucatusand an undescribed Asian species as strongly supported within the latter group. We propose accommodating these two species in a new genus,Violella, which is characterized by its brownish inner ascospore walls, Fucatus-violet hymenial pigment granules and secondary chemistry, and discuss the position ofViolellarelative toCalvitimelaandTephromela. We describe the new speciesViolella wangiiT. Sprib. & Goffinet to accommodate a new species with roccellic acid from Bhutan, China, India and the Russian Far East. We also excludeMycoblastus indicusAwasthi & Agarwal from the genusMycoblastusand propose for it the new combinationMalmidea indica(Awasthi & Agarwal) Hafellner & T. Sprib.

The new lichenicolous fungus Llimoniella cinnabarinae growing on Ramboldia cinnabarina from Alaska is described. The lack of excipular or epihymenial K+ purplish, violet or green pigmentsplaces it near the recently described L. phaeophysciae group. Its affinity with Llimoniella and othermembers of lichenicolous Helotiales is discussed. Key words: lichenicolous fungus, lichens, North America, taxonomy Introduction Thegenus Llimoniella wasintroducedfortwolichenicolous fungi growing on terricolouslichens of gypsum soils (Hafellner N Diederich et al .2010). The original concept of Llimoniella hasrecentlybeenenlargedtoincludeagroupof taxa, referred to as the L. phaeophysciae group, which does not exhibit the K+ violet,purplish or green pigments in the epi-hymenium and excipulum but are other-wise typical of Llimoniella (Diederich et al .2010). During the course of recent work onlichens and lichenicolous fungi in Alaska(e.g., Spribille

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.

Hypogymnia metaphysodes was first described from Japan and Sakhalin, and later reported from western North America. Here we show that the North American material currently referred to H. metaphysodes differs from that species not only morphologically and chemically, but also in ascospore size and shape. We also show that the North American material is in fact heterogeneous, and can be assigned to two well-defined species here described as new: Hypogymnia recurva sp. nov. and H. wilfiana sp. nov. Both of these lichens contain distinctive secondary metabolites: vittatolic acid in the case of H. recurva, and 2-methylene-3-carboxy-18-hydroxynonadecanoic acid (“apinnatic acid”), reported here for the first time from Hypogymnia , in H. wilfiana. Both of our new species are so far known only from western North America, where they occur primarily as epiphytes on the branches of conifers. Hypogymnia metaphysodes s. str. has not yet been reliably reported from this region and should be excluded from the North American lichen flora.

The phylogeny of the Lecanora varia group is inferred from ITS sequences using Bayesian and ML phylogenetic analysis methods. According to our data, usnic acid-containing, corticolous Lecanora species do not form a monophyletic group but occur in three major clades together with other groups of Lecanora and Protoparmeliopsis. The new combination Lecanora filamentosa (Stirt.) Elix & Palice is proposed. The new species Lecanora schizochromatica is described from northwestern North America. It produces atranorin as a major substance and is closely related to the morphologically and chemically similar L. filamentosa. The American Biatora pullula Tuck. is synonymised with Lecanora anopta Nyl., which is hereby reported for continental North America for the first time. The phylogenetic relationships between the major clades of Lecanora are still largely unresolved and require more intensive taxon and character sampling. peerReviewed

Dead wood is an important habitat feature for lichens in forest ecosystems, but little is known about how many and which lichens are dependent on dead wood. We reviewed substrate use by epiphytic lichens in the combined floras of Fennoscandia and the Pacific Northwest of North America based on literature and herbarium data and analyzed substrate affinity relative to life form, reproductive mode and major phylogenetic group within the floras. A total of 550 (43%) of the 1271 epiphytic species in the combined floras use wood, and 132 species (10%) are obligately associated with dead wood in one or both regions. Obligate and facultative wood-dwelling guilds in the two floras were strongly similar in terms of internal guild structure in each region, but differ somewhat in species composition, while the bark-dwelling guild differs strongly in both. Most obligate dead wood users are sexually reproducing crustose lichens. The largest numbers of species are associated with forest structural features such as logs and snags that have been greatly reduced by forest practices. Conservation of lichens inhabiting wood requires greater attention to crustose lichen species and the development of conservation strategies that look beyond numbers and volumes of dead wood and consider biologically meaningful dead wood structure types.

The new lichen genus Myochroidea is described to accommodate four species of the Lecidea leprosula group. Myochroidea is characterized by a crustose, areolate, minutely crenate to almost coralloid or indistinct, grey-brown to olive-brown thallus, reddish brown apothecia with an often persistent margin, moderately branched and anastomosing paraphyses with often swollen, pigmented apical cells, asci of the Micarea-type, and colourless, one-celled, fusiform to broadly ellipsoid ascospores. The new combinations Myochroidea leprosula (Arnold) Printzen, T. Sprib. & Tønsberg comb. nov., M. porphyrospoda (Anzi) Printzen, T. Sprib. & Tønsberg comb. nov., M. rufofusca (Anzi) Printzen, T. Sprib. & Tønsberg comb. nov. and the new species M. minutula Printzen, T. Sprib. & Tønsberg are published. Lecidea porphyroplaca Hinteregger & Poelt is a synonym of M. rufofusca. Descriptions of the four species and an identification key are provided. Myochroidea leprosula and M. rufofusca are reported as new to North America.

Lecidea rubrocastanea T. Sprib. & Printzen is described as new from conifer bark and wood in montane valleys of inland British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington State. It is characterized by its combination of a crustose olivaceous thallus lacking secondary lichen substances, small, dark burgundy-red or maroon apothecia, dark-capped paraphyses, Lecidella-type ascus, small, thin-walled ascospores, and bacilliform conidia. The generic affinities of the species based on analysis of ITS DNA are unclear, but it has numerous morphological traits in common with Japewia.

Mn uptake from MnCl 2 solution and chlorophyll fluorescence (as a selected vitality parameter) were studied in the epiphytic lichens Lobaria pulmonaria (tripartite, heteromerous lichen with the green alga Dictyochloropsis as primary photobiont and Nostoc in cephalodia), Nephroma helveticum (bipartite, heteromerous lichen with Nostoc photobiont) and Leptogium saturninum (bipartite, homoiomerous lichen with Nostoc photobiont). Extracellular adsorption and intracellular uptake of Mn increased in the order L. pulmonaria N. helveticum L. saturninum . Mn increasingly reduced the effective quantum yield of photosystem 2 ( Φ 2 ) in the same order. CaCl 2 and MgCl 2 alleviated the Mn-induced reduction of Φ 2 . Moist thalli of all species transferred significant amounts of extracellular Mn into the cells during a recovery day subsequent to incubation with metal solution. This suggests that even short exposures to Mn in the field, e.g. via stemflow, can affect the physiology of the lichen species studied. The experimental results support the hypothesis that cyanolichens are sensitive to excess Mn. Data also suggest that the tripartite L. pulmonaria is less Mn-sensitive than the bipartite cyanolichens. This agrees with published field observations from Montana, where bipartite cyanolichens (including L. saturninum and N. helveticum ) occurred on conifer bark with the lowest Mn concentration, while L. pulmonaria was also found on bark with higher Mn concentrations.

The relevance of chemical site factors for the abundance of epiphytic lichens was studied in Picea engelmannii-Abies lasiocarpa forests of the Salish Mountains, northwestern Montana, USA. The Salish Mountains are an area with relatively low atmospheric pollutant load and low precipitation. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) suggests that cover of several lichen species was limited by high Mn concentrations of bark or by high ratios of Mn to Ca, Mg and Fe. Mn in the bark is known primarily to derive from the soil. An effect of Mn concentration or Mn/Ca and Mn/Mg ratios was not found on A. lasiocarpa. This suggests that A. lasiocarpa deposits Mn in the bark in a physiologically inactive form as already known from A. balsamea. Precipitation chemistry was apparently less relevant for epiphytic lichen distribution in the Salish Mountains, as no correlations between element concentrations in stemflow and cover values were found and as amounts of stemflow were small. However, precipitation in the study year was less than average. The lacking significance of precipitation chemistry is probably the cause why epiphytic lichen vegetation differed less between living and dead trees in the Salish Mountains than in highly polluted coniferous forests studied by our group in Germany; in Germany, the difference between living and dead trees was attributed to reduced interception of pollutants from the atmosphere by trees with reduced crown surface. The result of the present study that small-scale variation of epiphytic lichen abundance is only partly explainable by chemical parameters gives rise to the assumption that microclimate (e.g., moisture), which has not been systematically explored, could be an important site factor for epiphytic lichens in the Salish Mountains. Furthermore, tree age was identified by CCA as a relevant site factor for lichens on P. engelmannii.

Schaereria dolodes (Nyl. ex Hasse) Schmull & T. Sprib. comb. nov., an epiphytic lichen species known from western North America was originally described as a member of the genus Lecidea sensu lato. However, its morphology is very characteristic of the genus Schaereria Körb. Here, we lectotypify the species and propose its placement in the latter genus. It is also reported as new to Canada from British Columbia.

Pyrrhospora gowardiana Spribille & Hauck is described as a new crustose lichen with red apothecia growing primarily on twigs and bark of Larix, Pinus, and Pseudotsuga in montane western North America. It differs from the widespread and circumboreal P. cinnabarina (Sommerf.) Choisy in absence of soredia; verruculose to verrucose, grayish thallus; larger, more strongly convex apothecia; and occurrence in dry, exposed habitats. The species is furthermore the first representative of its genus from which pycnidia have been reported.

 Premise of the study: Thallus architecture has long been a powerful guide for classifying lichens and has often trumped photobiont association and ascomatal type, but the reliability of these characters to predict phylogenetic affi nity has seldom been tested. The cyanolichen genus Polychidium unites species that have strikingly similar gross morphology but consort with different photobiont genera. If Polychidium were found to be monophyletic, photobiont switching among closely related species would be suggested. If, however, species were found to arise in different lineages, a convergent body plan and ascomatal type evolution would be inferred.  Methods: We tested the monophyly of Polychidium with a multilocus phylogeny based on nuclear and mitochondrial sequence data from all known Peltigeralean families and reconstructed ancestral states for specifi c thallus architecture and ascomatal ontogeny types relative to Polychidium and other clades.  Key results: We found that Polychidium consists of two species groups that arose independently in different suborders within the Peltigerales, associated with Nostoc and Scytonema photobionts, respectively. We infer from ancestral character state reconstruction that dendroid thallus architecture evolved independently in these two lineages.  Conclusions: The independent development of similar dendroid thallus architecture in different fungal suborders with different photobionts represents a clear and previously overlooked example of convergent evolution in lichens. Our results also suggest a pattern of character state conservation, loss, and reversion in ascomatal ontogeny types, hitherto considered conserved traits useful for higher level ascomycete systematics.

Lichens are unique among fungal symbioses in that their mycelial structures are compact and exposed to the light as thallus structures. The myriad intersections of unique fungal species with photosynthetic partner organisms (green algae in 90% of lichens) produce a wide variety of diverse shapes and colours of the fully synthesized lichen thallus when growing in nature. This characteristic complex morphology is, however, not achieved in the fungal axenic state. Even under ideal environmental conditions, the lichen life cycle faces considerable odds: first, meiotic spores are only produced on well-established thalli and often only after achieving considerable age in a stable environment, and second, even then in vivo resynthesis requires the presence of compatible algal strains where fungal spores germinate. Many lichen species have evolved a way around the resynthesis bottleneck by producing asexual propagules for joint propagation of symbionts. These different dispersal strategies ostensibly shape the population genetic structure of lichen symbioses, but the relative contributions of vertical (joint) and horizontal (independent) symbiont transmission have long eluded lichen evolutionary biologists. In this issue of Molecular Ecology, Dal Grande et al. (2012) close in on this question with the lung lichen, Lobaria pulmonaria, a flagship species in the conservation of old growth forests. By capitalizing on available microsatellite markers for both fungal and algal symbionts, they show that while vertical transmission is the predominant mode of reproduction, horizontal transmission is demonstrable and actively shapes population genetic structure. The resulting mixed propagation system is a highly successful balance of safe recruitment of symbiotic clones and endless possibilities for fungal recombination and symbiont shuffling.

The number of undescribed species of lichenized fungi has been estimated at roughly 10,000. Describing and cataloging these would take the existing number of taxonomists several decades; however, the support for taxonomy is in decline worldwide. In this paper we emphasize the dire need for taxonomic expertise in lichenology. We bring together 103 colleagues from institutions worldwide to describe a total of 100 new species of lichenized fungi, representing a wide taxonomic and geographic range. The newly described species are: Acarospora flavisparsa, A. janae, Aderkomyces thailandicus, Amandinea maritima, Ampliotrema cocosense, Anomomorpha lecanorina, A. tuberculata, Aspicilia mansourii, Bacidina sorediata, Badimia multiseptata, B. vezdana, Biatora epirotica, Buellia sulphurica, Bunodophoron pinnatum, Byssoloma spinulosum, Calopadia cinereopruinosa, C. editae, Caloplaca brownlieae, C. decipioides, C. digitaurea, C. magnussoniana, C. mereschkowskiana, C. yorkensis, Calvitimela uniseptata, Chapsa microspora, C. psoromica, C. rubropulveracea, C. thallotrema, Chiodecton pustuliferum, Cladonia mongkolsukii, Clypeopyrenis porinoides, Coccocarpia delicatula, Coenogonium flammeum, Cresponea ancistrosporelloides, Crocynia microphyllina, Dictyonema hernandezii, D. hirsutum, Diorygma microsporum, D. sticticum, Echinoplaca pernambucensis, E. schizidiifera, Eremithallus marusae, Everniastrum constictovexans, Fellhanera borbonica, Fibrillithecis sprucei, Fissurina astroisidiata, F. nigrolabiata, F. subcomparimuralis, Graphis caribica, G. cerradensis, G. itatiaiensis, G. marusa, Gyalideopsis chicaque, Gyrotrema papillatum, Harpidium gavilaniae, Hypogymnia amplexa, Hypotrachyna guatemalensis, H. indica, H. lueckingii, H. paracitrella, H. paraphyscioides, H. parasinuosa, Icmadophila eucalypti, Krogia microphylla, Lecanora mugambii, L. printzenii, L. xanthoplumosella, Lecidea lygommella, Lecidella greenii, Lempholemma corticola, Lepraria sekikaica, Lobariella sipmanii, Megalospora austropacifica, M. galapagoensis, Menegazzia endocrocea, Myriotrema endoflavescens, Ocellularia albobullata, O. vizcayensis, Ochrolechia insularis, Opegrapha viridipruinosa, Pannaria phyllidiata, Parmelia asiatica, Pertusaria conspersa, Phlyctis psoromica, Placopsis imshaugii, Platismatia wheeleri, Porina huainamdungensis, Ramalina hyrcana, R. stoffersii, Relicina colombiana, Rhizocarpon diploschistidina, Sticta venosa, Sagenidiopsis isidiata, Tapellaria albomarginata, Thelotrema fijiense, Tricharia nigriuncinata, Usnea galapagona, U. pallidocarpa, Verrucaria rhizicola, and Xanthomendoza rosmarieae. In addition, three new combinations are proposed: Fibrillithecis dehiscens, Lobariella botryoides, and Lobariella pallida.

WOS: 000285566000008, Parmelioid lichens are a diverse and ubiquitous group of foliose lichens. Generic delimitation in parmelioid lichens has been in a state of flux since the late 1960s with the segregation of the large, heterogeneous genus Parmelia into numerous smaller genera. Recent molecular phylogenetic studies have demonstrated that some of these new genera were monophyletic, some were not, and others, previously believed to be unrelated, fell within single monophyletic groups, indicating the need for a revision of the generic delimitations. This study aims to give an overview of current knowledge of the major clades of all parmelioid lichens. For this, we assembled a dataset of 762 specimens, including 31 of 33 currently accepted parmelioid genera (and 63 of 84 accepted genera of Parmeliaceae). We performed maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses of combined datasets including two, three and four loci. Based on these phylogenies and the correlation of morphological and chemical characters that characterize monophyletic groups, we accept 27 genera within nine main clades. We re-circumscribe several genera and reduce Parmelaria to synonymy with Parmotrema. Emodomelanelia Divakar & A. Crespo is described as a new genus (type: E. masonii). Nipponoparmelia (Kurok.) K.H. Moon, Y. Ohmura & Kashiw. ex A. Crespo & al. is elevated to generic rank and 15 new combinations are proposed (in the genera Flavoparmelia, Parmotrema, Myelochroa, Melanelixia and Nipponoparmelia). A short discussion of the accepted genera is provided and remaining challenges and areas requiring additional taxon sampling are identified., Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion [CGL2008-01125-E/BOS, CGL2007-64652/BOS]; Ramon y Cajal [RYC02007-01576]; Field Museum; Swedish Research Council [VR 629-2001-5756, VR 621-2003-303, VR 621-2006-3760], We wish to thank Allison Knight, Gary Perlmutter, Ken Sweat, James Lendemer and Gennadii Urbanavichius for providing us with fresh material for our studies. We thank John Pormann and Sean Dilda from the Duke Shared Cluster Resource and Michael Nuhn from the Nano+Bio Center for their support with installing and running the necessary software. This study has been supported financially by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (CGL2008-01125-E/BOS, CGL2007-64652/BOS), and Ramon y Cajal grant (RYC02007-01576) to PKD, a start up fund of The Field Museum to Thorsten Lumbsch, the Swedish Research Council grants VR 629-2001-5756, VR 621-2003-303 and VR 621-2006-3760 to Mats Wedin. We thank the Galapagos National Park for permission to analyze their material. This is publication no. 2001 of the Charles Darwin Research Station.