This genus of the Parmeliaceae (Krog 1982), with c. 45 species, is subcosmopolitan, with the highest diversity in the Neotropics and in Africa (see e.g. Alors & al. 2016). The most similar genus is Flavopunctelia, which differs in conidial morphology and the presence of usnic acid (see Crespo & al. 2010). The Italian epiphytic species were treated by Leandrin (2004). Five specie are known to occur in Italy (Nimis 2016).

References

Alors D., Lumbsch H.T., Divakar P.K., Leavitt S.D., Crespo A. 2016. An integrative approach for understanding diversity in the Punctelia rudecta species complex (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycota). PlosONE, 11, 2: e0146537.
Crespo A., Kauff F., Divakar P.K., del Prado R., Pérez-Ortega S., Amo de Paz G., Ferencova Z., Blanco O., Roca-Valiente B., Núñez-Zapata J., Cubas P., Argüello A., Elix J.A., Esslinger T.L., Hawksworth D.L., Millanes A., Molina M.C., Wedin M., Ahti T., Aptroot 2010. Phylogenetic generic classification of parmelioid lichens (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycota) based on molecular, morphological and chemical evidence. Taxon, 59, 6: 1735-1753.
Krog H. 1982. Punctelia, a new genus in the Parmeliaceae. Nordic J. Bot., 2: 287-292.
Leandrin L. 2004. Revisione sistematica dei licheni epifiti del genere Punctelia Krog in Italia. Thesis, University of Trieste, 55 pp.
Nimis P.L. 2016. The lichens of Italy. A second annotated catalogue. EUT, Trieste, 740 pp.

Last modified: March, 19, 2022

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