Peltula is a worldwide distributed genus of c. 40, mostly soil- and rock-inhabiting species, with the highest diversity in arid and semi-arid regions, or wherever arid microclimates are found, on seepage tracks of both acidic and base-rich rocks. It has a high diversity in the Mediterranean Region, which hosts all of the species known so far from the European continent. Soil-inhabiting species are broadly similar in appearance to species of Heppia, which differ in having 8-spored, prototunicate asci without an apical apparatus. The genus is currently placed in the Peltulaceae within the Lichinales. This key includes the 6 species known to occur in Italy, plus one species reported from the Central Alps in Switzerland. Last modified: August 27, 2023

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