New records of lichens and lichenicolous fungi from Iran and their biogeographical significance

Abstract

In this paper, 80 lichen taxa and 9 lichenicolous fungi are reported as new to Iran. These include a tropical element represented by Lithothelium obtectum and Melanotopelia africana, and a North American element with Lecanora flowersiana, L. juniperina, L. percrenata, and L. wetmorei.

A new species and new records of the lichen genus Pyrenula from Iran

“…Arg.) Aptroot (identified by the first author, and reported by Valadbeigi & Sipman 2010), known to be pantropical and common only in India (Aptroot 1991). It was also found in Iran along the Caspian coast in the zone of the Hyrcanian forests.…”

“…2008) includes 632 species. Valadbeigi et al (2010), Haji Moniri & Sipman (2009) and Valadbeigi & Sipman (2010) together add another 116 species to Iran. Among these are four Pyrenula species: P. chlorospila Arnold , P. laevigata (Pers.)…”

The Lecanora dispersa group (Lecanoraceae) in Argentina

“…This species grows on sandstone, granite and sporadically on wood, in desert to montane habitats, at elevations from 1000 to 2800 m, in central and western North America (Śliwa 2007 a ). Recently it has also been recorded from Iran, growing on bark (Valadbeigi & Sipman 2010), and also from the Canary Islands (van den Boom 2010 b ). In Argentina, L. flowersiana has been found on calcareous rocks, between 800–900 m a.s.l, in the lower montane region of Mendoza province (Las Heras).…”

“…This species occurs on rocks and is reported from Europe, North America, New Zealand and Antarctica (Poelt et al . 1995; Śliwa & Olech 2002; Śliwa 2007 a ; Valadbeigi & Sipman 2010). In Argentina it has been found on bones and on calcareous rocks.…”

A first list of lichenicolous fungi from India

“…However, vegetative hyphae of that species are scattered, never grouped in dense clusters, 400−1000 × 8−13 μm, formed of (1−)2−3 rows of cells, and ascomata are till 120 μm lengthways. Lichenostigma elongatum was formerly known in Asia from Iran (Valadbeigi & Sipman 2010), Syria (John et al 2004), Turkey (Hafellner & John 2006) and Russia (Zhurbenko 2009b Fernandez-Brime et al 2010). Ascomata about 50 μm lengthways, subglobose, associated with superfi cial, black, richly ramifi ed, ornamented hyphal strands, 20−60(−100) × 7−15(−20) μm, consisting of 1−3 rows of cells.…”