Notes on some recently discovered specimens of the lichen genus Leioderma from Peninsular Malaysia

Abstract

The map of the world-distribution of taxa in the genus Leioderma Nyl. (Galloway & Jørgensen 1987: 363, fig. 14), gives the impression that this genus has two species in Peninsular Malaysia, but when checking on the cited specimens there is only one recorded from that region, namely Leioderma sorediatum D. J. Galloway & P. M. Jørg. collected by Gunnar Degelius at Fraser's Hill in Pahang (UPS). However, when going through some herbarium material of the Pannariaceae from TNS, I found well-developed specimens of another species, Leioderma erythrocarpum (Delise ex Nyl.) D. J. Galloway & P. M. Jørg., collected in the Cameron Highlands [alt. 1500–1800 m, 9 viii 1973, K. Suigiyama (TNS)] in Pahang, verifying its presence in the forests of Peninsular Malaysia. This also confirms the special status of these lichenologically poorly known forests (see e.g. van Steenis 1962 on the montane forests of the Malaysian region), where amongst other things some of the most typical SE Asian species of Erioderma also occur, viz. E. phaeorhizum Vain. and E. tomentosum Hue (as well as E. sorediatum P. M. Jørg. & D. J. Galloway, see Jørgensen & Sipman 2002). The nearest previous records of L. erythrocarpum are from montane forests in Borneo and Java (Galloway & Jørgensen 1987: 383).