Diploschistes xinjiangensis, a new saxicolous lichen from northwest China

Abstract

Diploschistes xinjiangensis from Xinjiang in northwest China is described as new to science. The species is characterized by the thick bluish gray thallus, asci with eight large ellipsoid ascospores, and the presence of diploschistesic and lecanoric acids. It grows on rock in the semiarid region at elevations of ca. 1700 m. ITS rDNA sequence analyses support the taxonomic distinctness of this species.

Taxonomic and phylogenetic study of the genus Diploschistes (Ostropales, Thelotremataceae) reveals one new species from Pakistan

“…The lichen-forming genus Diploschistes Norman includes crustose species with a remarkable range of variation in morphology of the ascomata, varying from perithecioid to urceolate with a blackish pseudoparenchymatous proper exciple, lateral paraphyses and a trebouxioid photobiont (Lumbsch & Mangold 2007;Lumbsch & Huhndorf 2010). The genus is widely distributed in arid and semiarid regions worldwide, with c. 43-45 species (Kirk et al 2008;Abbas et al 2014).…”