Psora is a subcosmopolitan genus of the Psoraceae with c. 40 species mostly occurring on more or less calcareous soil and rocks (Timdal 1984, 1986). The genus Romjularia has been recently created for R. lurida, which had been switched back and forward between several genera, among which Lecidea, Mycobilimbia and Psora (Timdal 2007); a phylogenetic analysis based on molecular data suggests that the genus is most closely related to a group of genera (including Bryobilimbia, Clauzadea, Farnoldia and Lecidoma) that do not belong to Lecideaceae s.str. (Fryday & al. 2014). The genus Glyphopeltis was described to accommodate a peltate lecideoid lichen from South Africa, that was subsequently placed in synonymy with a Mediterranean species also occurring in Italy; it appears to be related to Psora and is now placed into the Psoraceae (see Nimis & Poelt 1987, Egea & al. 1995).
This key includes all species of Psora known to occur in Italy (Nimis 2016), plus Glyphopeltis ligustica, Psorula rufonigra, Romjularia lurida, and the unrelated Placolecis opaca and Psorinia conglomerata for a total of 12 species.

References

Egea J.M., Llimona X., Manrique E. 1995. Nuevos datos sobre Glyphopeltis ligustica (Psoraceae, Lecanorales) y su área de distribución. In: Daniëls F.J.A. & al. (eds.): Flechten Follmann. Contributions to lichenology in Honour of Gerhard Follmann. . Geobotanical and Phytotaxonomical Study Group, Botanical Institute, University of Cologne, Cologne pp. 183-192.
Fryday A., Printzen Ch., Ekman S. 2014. Bryobilimbia, a new generic name for Lecidea hypnorum and closely related species. Lichenologist, 46, 1: 25-37.
Nimis P.L. 2016. The Lichens of Italy. A Second Annotated Catalogue. EUT, Trieste, 739 pp.
Nimis P.L., Poelt J. 1987. The lichens and lichenicolous fungi of Sardinia (Italy). An annotated list. Studia Geobot., 7, suppl. 1: 1-269.
Timdal E. 1984. The delimitation of Psora (Lecideaceae) and related genera, with notes on some species. Nordic J. Bot., 4: 525-540.
Timdal E. 1986. A revision of Psora (Lecideaceae) in North America. The Bryologist, 89, 4: 253-275.
Timdal E. 2007. Romjularia. In: Nash T.H. III, Gries C., Bungartz F.: Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region. Vol. 3. Lichens Unlimited, Arizona St. Univ., Tempe, pp. 287-289.

Last modified: June, 16, 2023

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