Verrucariaceae from Nepal

Abstract

AbstractTwenty-eight species of Verrucariaceae are reported from Nepal. One genus and nine species are described as new: Nesothele gen. nov., sister to Staurothele s. lat., with a crustose to squamulose thallus, hymenial algae and 4–8 colourless muriform ascospores per ascus; Nesothele glebulosa sp. nov., resembling N. rugulosa but with smaller perithecia; Thelidium uvidulum sp. nov., producing a thin thallus with soralia, prominent perithecia, and 1-septate ascospores; Verrucaria antepotens sp. nov., having a well-developed thallus with dark-sided areoles, immersed perithecia, and small ascospores 12.5–16.5 μm long; V. lactea sp. nov., resembling V. praetermissa but with larger ascospores and a strongly deviating ITS sequence; V. parvipeltata sp. nov., with brown, basally constricted areoles on an extensive dark prothallus; V. senta sp. nov., with a brown cracked thallus and prominent naked perithecia; Willeya eminens sp. nov., with prominent perithecia, and differing from W. protrudens in its ITS sequence; W. irrigata sp. nov. with a thallus cracked into dark-sided areoles, and relatively large ascospores 28.5–40 μm long; W. nepalensis sp. nov. with a cracked thallus, immersed perithecia and a distinctive ITS sequence. Three species complexes might contain new taxa, but wider geographical sampling is necessary before delimiting species: Thelidium minutulum, Verrucaria elaeomelaena and V. hydrophila. Five new combinations are made: Willeya honghensis comb. nov. (for Staurothele honghensis), Nesothele globosa comb. nov. (for Endocarpon globosum), N. hymenogonia comb. nov. (for Staurothele hymenogonia), N. rugulosa comb. nov. (for Staurothele rugulosa) and N. succedens comb. nov. (for Staurothele succedens). Four species are unidentified.