The new species Psoroma nivale is described from an area of late snow-lie in the Keglo Bay area on the eastern side of Ungava Bay, northern Québec, Canada. It is superficially similar to P. hypnorum but has a dark, brownish black thallus colour without reddish hues, much-branched, proliferating squamules, thick paraphyses, distinct but inconspicuous IKI+ ascus tube structures, and characteristic elongate, bacilliform, often asymmetrical ascospores. The new species is compared with possible related taxa and its systematic position discussed. A key to the species of pannarioid lichens reported from arctic areas of North America is also provided.

Porina pilifera Neuwirth sp. nov. is described from Costa Rica. It is similar to P. palmicola, but differs in having smaller ascospores 27–36×3–4 μm. Porina pilifera is only known from the type locality in tropical Central America, where it grows on the leaves of palm trees.

The morphology, chemistry and phylogenetic relationships of Chinese populations of Bulbothrix are described. Nine species, including two new species B. mammillaria Y. Y. Zhang & Li S. Wang sp. nov. and B. lacinia Y. Y. Zhang & Li S. Wang sp. nov., and two newly recorded for the flora, B. scortella and B. meizospora, are reported. Bulbothrix mammillaria can be recognized by the sparse cilia that are reduced to a bulbate structure and the broad lobes (3–11 mm). Bulbothrix lacinia differs from other species of the genus by dark brown, spherical to short-cylindrical isidia and common lacinulae on the upper surface. Phylogenetic relationships of currently known ITS sequences from Bulbothrix were inferred to assess the affinities of the new species. A key to all known species from China is presented.

The new combination Ocellomma rediuntum (Stizenb. ex Hasse) Kantvilas, Gueidan & Tehler is proposed, supported by morphological, anatomical and molecular data. Hitherto known only from the Californian coast, this species is here recorded for Kangaroo Island (South Australia), Victoria and Tasmania. It is described and illustrated from Australian collections. The ecology of the species and its remarkable distribution are discussed.

A molecular phylogeny of the genus Byssoloma is inferred from mtSSU sequences using Bayesian and maximum likelihood phylogenetic analyses. Byssoloma subdiscordans is resolved as sister to B. citricola rather than to the B. leucoblepharum clade, the B. subundulatum group (species with a compact apothecial margin) is shown to be a monophyletic group, and three species belonging to this group are described as new to science from Hainan Province in China: B. brunneodiscum W. C. Wang & J. C. Wei, with dark brown apothecia, crystals in the excipulum and the presence of 2,5,7-trichloro-3-O-methylnorlichexanthone; B. rubrofuscum W. C. Wang & J. C. Wei, with red-brown apothecia, 3–6-septate ascospores and the presence of 5,7-dichloro-3-O-methylnorlichexanthone; B. melanodiscocarpum W. C. Wang & J. C. Wei, with pure black apothecia, a K+ olive-black hypothecium and the presence of thiophanic acid.

The foliicolous species Bacidia colchica Vězda was described from the eastern coast of the Black Sea (Vězda 1979, 1983) and is also known from SW France (Sérusiaux 1989; Sérusiaux et al. 2002) and S Italy (Puntillo 2000; Puntillo et al. 2000). However, its morphological features, such as the structure of the exciple, morphology of the paraphyses and ascus type, do not fit the current concept of Bacidia De Not. (Ekman 1996, 2001) but place this taxon in the Pilocarpaceae. The current circumscription of Pilocarpaceae is still under discussion, as well as the concept of some genera at present included in this family (Sérusiaux 1993; Lücking et al. 1994; Kalb et al. 2000; Lücking et al. 2001a; Sérusiaux et al. 2002; Andersen & Ekman 2005). In particular, the position of B. colchica should be in Fellhanera Vězda (Vězda 1986; Lücking et al. 1994; Sérusiaux 1996; Lücking 1997). Although several recent works have dealt with the European species of the genus Fellhanera (Sérusiaux 1996; Aptroot et al. 1998; Sparrius & Aptroot 2000; Sérusiaux et al. 2001; Sparrius 2002; Spier et al. 2002), none of them included B. colchica, despite some of the papers considering foliicolous taxa.

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).

It has recently been discovered that lichens contain a serine protease capable of degrading the pathogenic prion protein, the etiological agent of prion diseases such as sheep scrapie and cervid chronic wasting disease. Limited methods are available to degrade or inactivate prion disease agents, especially in the environment, and lichens or their serine protease could prove important for management of these diseases. Scant information is available regarding the presence or absence of the protease responsible for degrading prion protein (PrP) in lichen species and, in this study, we tested the hypothesis that PrP degradation activity in lichens is phylogenetically-based by testing 44 species of Cladonia lichens, a genus for which a significant portion of the phylogeny is well established. We categorized PrP degradation activity among the 44 species (high, moderate, low or none) and found that activity in Cladonia species did not correspond with phylogenetic position of the species. Degradation of PrP did correspond, however, with three classical taxonomic characters within the genus: species with brown apothecia, no usnic acid, and the presence of a cortex. Of the 44 species studied, 18 (41%) had either high or moderate PrP degradation activity, suggesting the protease may be frequent in this genus of lichens.

%The new saxicolous species P. clercii Messuti & A. W. Archer is described. The following two taxa are reported for the first time from Africa: P. petrophyes C. Knight and P. subventosa var. deficiens A. W. Archer & Elix. A brief description of each species is given together with notes on their chemistry, distribution, ecology and taxonomy.

Three new species of Menegazzia are described and illustrated, and their relationships and affinities to other species in the genus discussed. Menegazziabjerkeana Kantvilas is an isidiate species from the coastal ranges of New South Wales; M. brattii Kantvilas is an eight-spored species related to the widespread M. pertransita (Müll. Arg.) R. Sant., and is endemic to Kerguelen Island; and M. gallowayi Kantvilas is an eight-spored species from South Island, New Zealand. Menegazzia sanguinascens (Räsänen) R. Sant. is recorded from Kerguelen for the first time.

Three new species of Diploicia are described from the Galapagos Islands and a fourth, D. glebosa, is transferred from Pyxine; all four are considered endemic to the archipelago. In order to accommodate these species, the generic concept of Diploicia has been emended. Two of the species are sterile; D. leproidica is placodioid-leproid, where the thalli derive from pseudocorticate granules aggregating into small, placodioid rosettes with distinctly lobate margins. The second sterile species, D. squamulosa, forms scattered squamules that eventually aggregate into small, placodioid rosettes. The two fertile species, D. glebosa, with an olivaceous to beige, smooth, epruinose upper surface, and D. neotropica, with a white to grey-white, roughened, pruinose upper surface, form larger thalli typical of Diploicia, have apothecia that are initially lecideine, but are soon engulfed and hidden by a thick thalline margin. Anatomically the proper exciple remains visible for a considerable part of the ontogeny, although it eventually becomes almost completely reduced to a few pigmented or almost hyaline hyphae. This transition from lecideine to lecanorine apothecia is similar to the physciaeformis-type ontogeny observed in some Pyxine species. Several species currently accommodated in Buellia s. lat. with diploicin and effigurate thalli that lack distinctly lobate margins are discussed and the Socotran endemic Physcia endopyxinea is transferred into Diploicia.

Leiorreuma subpatellulum is described as new to science. The new species has a completely carbonized exciple, an inspersed hymenium and brown ascospores with 6–12 locules, tapering at one end.

Clypeococcum wedinii, a pyrenocarpous ascomycete growing on the lichen genus Bunodophoron in Chile and New Zealand, is described as new to science. It differs from other Clypeococcum species in the combination of the following characteristics: a conspicuous gall formation, scattered, loose to dense stromatic growths sometimes looking like a clypeus, an ascomatal wall composed of both textura intricata and angularis in surface view, a non-amyloid hymenium, an absence of ostiolar filaments, 8-spored asci, and 1-septate ascospores arranged biseriately in the ascus. An updated key to the species of the lichenicolous genus Clypeococcum is provided.