This key includes all species formerly treated as members of Trapelia or Trapeliopsis which are known to occur in Italy (Nimis 2016), plus some species which occur in the Alps outside the Italian territory (Nimis & al. 2018), for a total of 18 species.
The following genera are included in the key:
1) Ainoa - This genus of the Baeomycetaceae, dedicated to Aino Henssen, includes 2 species, one occurring on soil, the other on siliceous rocks. It was segregated from Trapelia on the basis of both molecular and morphological evidence.
2) Parainoa - This monotypic genus was recently created to accommodate a formerly misunderstood species of Trapelia. The genus, likely to belong in the Baeomycetaceae, is similar to Ainoa, but differs in containing depsidones; it is also similar to Baeomyces, but differs in the complete lack of a differentiated, extended hypothecial stalk for the ascomata. For further details see Resl & al. (2015).
3) Trapelia - This genus of the Trapeliaceae includes c. 13 species and is closely related to Trapeliopsis, which differs in having e.g. more robust apothecia, a shallower hymenium and smaller ascospores. The distinction between the two genera has been often questioned, but seems to be confirmed by molecular data (Lumbsch & al. 2007). The genus in non-monophyletic, Placopsis being nested within Trapelia, representing a clade characterised by the presence of cephalodia (Resl & al. 2015, Schneider & al. 2016). A broad species concept was adopted in Trapelia until the paper by Orange (2018) distinguished several semi-cryptic species, the best key to European species being now that published by Orange & al. (2021), which I mainly follow here. Recently, Kondratyuk & al. (2022) have split the genus into several new genera, such as Kleopowiella, Gallowayiopsis, Trapegintarasia, and Trapejamesia which, pending further study, are not accepted here.
4) Trapeliopsis - After the segregation of a misunderstood species into Parainoa (Resl & al. 2015), this genus of the Trapeliaceae includes c. 20 species.
The most recent key to the species treated here is that by Orange & al. (2021).

References

Lumbsch H.T., Schmitt I., Mangold A., Wedin M. 2007. Ascus types are phylogenetically misleading in Trapeliaceae and Agyriaceae (Ostropomycetidae, Ascomycota). Mycol. Res., 111: 1133-1141.
Nimis P.L. 2016. The lichens of Italy. A second annotated catalogue. EUT, Trieste, 740 pp.
Nimis P.L., Hafellner J., Roux C., Clerc P., Mayrhofer H., Martellos S., Bilovitz P.O. 2018. The Lichens of the Alps. An Annotated Catalogue. Mycokeys, 31: 1-634.
Orange A., Cannon P., Aptroot A., Coppins B., Sanderson N., Simkin J. 2021. Baeomycetales: Trapeliaceae, including the genera Coppinsia, Placopsis, Placynthiella, Rimularia, Trapelia and Trapeliopsis. Revisions of British and Irish Lichens, 18: 1-19.
Resl P., Schneider K., Westberg M., Printzen C., Palice Z., Thor G., Fryday A., Mayrhofer H., Spribille T. 2015. Diagnostics for a troubled backbone: testing topological hypotheses of trapelioid lichenized fungi in a large-scale phylogeny of Ostropomycetidae (Lecanoromycetes). Fungal Divers., 73: 239-258.

Last modified: December, 1, 2025

Project Dryades, Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste - CC BY-SA 4.0