This genus, which was resurrected to accommodate the Lecanora muralis-group in the Lecanoraceae, was not accepted by all authors, mainly because of the lack of molecular data. Kondratyuk & al. (2014) provided a first attempt to delimit the genus on the basis of molecular evidence, suggesting that the genus, although heterogeneous in the present circumscription, could be largely retained. I accept it here, although the taxonomy of Lecanora s.lat. is far from being satisfactorily settled (see Zhao & al. 2015). Several taxa, both in the Alps and in the Mediterranean region, are still poorly known. The key includes the 12 infrageneric taxa hitherto reported from Italy.

References

Kondratyuk S.Y., Kim J., Kondratuk A.S., Jeong M.-H., Hwa Jang S., Pirogov M.V., Hur J.S. 2014. First data on molecular phylogeny of the genus Protoparmeliopsis M. Choisy (Lecanoraceae, Ascomycota). Modern Phytomorph., 5: 63-68.
Zhao X., Leavitt S.D., Zhao Z.T., Zhang L.L., Arup U., Grube M., Pérez-Ortega S., Printzen Ch., Śliwa L., Kraichak E., Divakar, P. K., Crespo A., Lumbsch H.T. 2016. Towards a revised generic classification of lecanoroid lichens (Lecanoraceae, Ascomycota) based on molecular, morphological and chemical evidence. Fungal Divers., 78: 293-304.

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