Notes on Saxicolous Species of the Lecanora subfusca Group in India

Abstract

A treatment of eight saxicolous, atranorin containing taxa of Lecanora subfusca in India is presented. Descriptions of the species and a key to the taxa are included. A new subspecies (L. campestris subsp. gulmargia Upreti) and a new variety (L. cinereofusca var. himalayensis Upreti) are described. Lecanora melacarpella Mill. Arg., L. streimannii Lumbsch, L. subimmersa (Fde) Vainio, and L. sulphurescens Fie, are recorded for the first time for India. Lecanora Ach. is a large and widely distributed genus with about 400 species worldwide and includes several groups of diverse taxa. Eigler (1969) distinguished several species complexes within Lecanora. Brodo (1984), Lumbsch (1994), and Miyawaki (1988) studied species of the Lecanora subfusca group from North America, Australia, and Japan, respectively. Tensberg (1992) and Schreiner and Hafellner (1992) treated the corticolous, sorediate Lecanorae while Brodo et al. (1993) described sorediate, saxicolous species of the Lecanora subfusca group in Europe. Awasthi (1991) recorded the occurrence of 43 species of Lecanora in India. Upreti (1997) described 19 corticolous species of the Lecanora subfusca group and 3 of the L. pallida group in India. Lumbsch et al. (1996) revised the tropical species of Lecanora having a dark hypothecium under the Lecanora coronulans group and described L coronulans Nyl. and L. fimbriatula Stirton from India. Lumbsch et al. (1996) placed L. khatiensis Raisnen and L. kumaoensis Risanen, both reported from India by Awasthi (1965), in Tephromela khatiensis (Ris.) Lumbsch. A large number of taxa listed under Lecanora by Awasthi (1965, 1991) from India are now placed in Placodium, Protoparmelia, and Aspicilia. The aim of this study is to revise the remaining taxa from India and it is the second of a series revising the genus Lecanora in India. It revises 8 saxicolous species within the L. subfiusca