A newBunodophoronspecies (Sphaerophoraceae,Lecanorales) from the Neotropics

Abstract

AbstractThis is the first part of an ongoing taxonomic treatment ofBunodophoron(Sphaerophoraceae,Lecanorales) in the Neotropics, based on the molecular phylogenetic analysis of three markers together with studies of morphology and chemistry, and using the general mixed Yule coalescence (GMYC) method to delimit species boundaries. In the Neotropics, species in this genus grow on the ground or on shrubs in the páramos, and as epiphytes in the montane rainforests. We describe here a new species from the páramos of Colombia,Bunodophoron crespoaeSoto, M. Prieto & Wedin sp. nov., and discuss its distinction from another large and common páramo speciesBunodophoron flabellatum(Hue) Soto, M. Prieto & Wedin comb. nov. Both species are primarily terrestrial in the páramos, althoughB. flabellatummay occasionally also grow as an epiphyte.Bunodophoron crespoaeis characterized by the white,c. 10–13 cm long, subterete to narrowly flattened, main branches. It differs from the otherwise similarB. flabellatumby being distinctly subterete, more abundantly branched, and by having smaller ascospores. Both are distinguished from the primarily epiphyticB. melanocarpumby the considerably larger thallus size, with the main branches ofB. melanocarpumrarely exceeding 3·5 cm in length and 2 mm in width.