Vezdaea, belonging to the monotypic family Vezdaeaceae (see Lumbsch & al. 2009) comprises 14 species worldwide, 7 of which occur in Europe. It is mainly characterised by the absence of a true hypothecium and of a hymenial gel-matrix, and by branched paraphyses which are often characteristically entwined around the thick-walled asci. Most species are very poorly collected, because they produce inconspicuous, mostly epibryophytic thalli, and ephemeral, minute apothecia.
The genus was treated by Coppins (1987) for the British Isles, and by Czarnota & Kukwa (2009) for Poland. A worldwide key was published by Lendemer (2011). A key to European species was provided by Giralt & al. (1993); important keys are those of Clauzade & Roux (1985, 1987), Wirth & al. (2013) and Chambers & al. (2021). Further information on individual species is in Poelt & Döbbeler (1975), Döbbeler (1979), and Ernst (1995).
The genus is one of the least studied in Italy, only one species having been reported from the Country, so that this key includes all European species, which should be looked for in Italy. The key is mainly based on those of Chambers & al. (2021) and Wirth & al. (2013). It also includes the unrelated, non lichenized Mniaecia jungermanniae (Leotiomycetes, see Czarnota & Hernik, 2013), which shares with Vezdaea the absence of a hymenial gelatine.

References

Clauzade G., Roux C. 1985. Likenoj de Okcidenta Europo. Ilustrita determinlibro. Bull. Soc. Bot. Centre-Ouest, N. Ser., N. Spec. 7. Royan, 893 pp.
Clauzade G., Roux C. 1987. Likenoj de Okcidenta Eŭropo. Suplemento 2a. Bull. Soc. Bot. Centre-Ouest, n. ser., 18: 177-213.
Chambers S., Cannon P., Coppins B., Simkin J. 2021. Vezdaeales: Vezdaeaceae, including the genus Vezdaea. Revisions of British and Irish Lichens, 10: 1-5.
Coppins B.J. 1987. The lichen genus Vezdaea in the British Isles. Lichenologist, 19: 167-181.
Czarnota P., Hernik E. 2013. Mniaecia jungermanniae and Puttea margaritella (lichenized Ascomycota) found in Poland. Acta Soc. Bot. Poloniae, 82, 2: 175-179.
Czarnota P., Kukwa M. 2009. Contribution to the knowledge of some poorly known lichens in Poland. III. Trapelia corticola and the genus Vezdaea. Folia Cryptog. Estonica, 46: 25-31.
Döbbeler P. 1979. Vezdaea dawsoniae (Lecanorales), ein neuer Moosbewohner aus Neuguinea. Herzogia, 5: 95-101.
Ernst G. 1995. Vezdaea leprosa - Spezialist am Straßenrand. Herzogia, 11: 175-188.
Giralt M., Poelt J., Suanjak M. 1993. Die Flechtengattung Vezdaea mit V. cobria spec. nov. Herzogia, 9: 715-724.
Lendemer J.C. 2011. Vezdaea schuyleriana (Vezdaeaceae, Lichenized Ascomycetes), a new species from eastern North America. Notulae Naturae, 484: 1-4.
Lumbsch H.T., Zimmermann D.G., Schmitt, I. 2009. Phylogenetic position of ephemeral lichens in Thelocarpaceae and Vezdaeaceae (Ascomycota). Bibl. Lichenol., 100: 389-398.
Poelt J., Döbbeler, P. 1975. Über moosparasitiche Arten der Flechtengattungen Micarea und Vezdaea. Bot. Jahrb., 96: 328-352.
Wirth V., Hauck M., Schultz M. 2013. Die Flechten Deutschlands. Stuttgart, Ulmer. 2 voll., 1244 pp.

Last modified: September, 7, 2022

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