Hypotrachyna evansii Knox, H. habenula Knox and H. ligulata Knox from the north-eastern Transvaal are described as new. A close relationship is suggested between H. evansii and H. lividescens (Kurok.) Hale, but the former is pustulate and esorediate. The chemical consituents of H. habenula and H. fis- sicarpa (Kurok.) Hale are identical, but differences are emphasized in lobe mor- phology and spore size. Two other species of Hypotrachyna have been found to have the same medullary constituents as H. ligulata, and of these only H. thysanota has been reported from Africa. The genus Hypotrachyna (Vainio) Hale is characterized by usually narrow, apically truncate lobes, a pored-epicorticate upper surface, a black lower surface and dichoto- mously branched rhizines (Hale 1974). As defined by Hale (1974), most species within the group have linear to sublinear lobes, but Krog and Swinscow (1979) have emphasized the need to include some species with irregular lobes, when correlations with chemistry and rhizine morphology are considered. At its limits, the genus has affinities with Pseudoparmelia Lynge, Parmelina Hale and Xanthoparmelia (Vainio) Hale. Krog and Swinscow (1979), however, transferred to Hy- potrachyna most of the species included by Hale in Parmelina, and erected Parmelia subgenus Cyclocheila (Vain.) Krog & Swinscow to accommodate the remainder. Support for this redisposition was found in characters such as lobe and rhizine morphology, cortex characteristics and medullary chemistry. Such an approach clarifies the relationships of the Parmelina horrescens (Tayl.) Hale-Parmelia minarum Vain. group, but is less appro- priate for the Parmelina aurulenta (Tuck.) Hale group, whose medullary chemistry is fundamentally different from that of Hypotrachyna but is found also in Pseudoparmelia basutoensis. Although a complete analysis of this problem is beyond the intent of the present paper, it appears that the scope of the genus Hypotrachyna is broader than orig- inally conceived by Hale (1974), and that a thorough review of the status of the species in Parmelina may result in their redistribution in the various other genera in the Parme- liaceae. Despite these problems, the majority of the approximately 120 species presently recognized in Hypotrachyna are clearly distinguishable. The following three species were discovered among collections from Mount Sheba Nature Reserve. The descriptions were prepared during a five-month visit to the Smith- sonian Institute, Washington, D.C., in early 1980.