The genus Psoroglaena Müll.Arg., currently placed in the Verrucariaceae, is characterized by the usually papillose hyphae (papillae often inconspicuous), pale perithecia, and septate ascopores, and includes a dozen species of minute pyrenocarpous lichens worldwide (Lücking 2008). The genus has a complicated recent taxonomic history, with several species having been previously treated as members of Macentina or Leucocarpia. The delimitation against the tropical foliicolous genus Phylloblastia also remains partly unclear (Lücking 2008). Furthermore, Muggia & al. (2010) considered Psoroglaena to be deeply non-monophyletic, whereas in the phylogeny of Guzow-Krzemińska & al. (2012) the genus appears to be monophyletic. For further information see Coppins & Vězda (1977), Ekman (2013), Gilbert (1996), Harada (2003), Kubiak (2003), Longán & al. (2000), Orange (1989, 1991, 2013), Vězda (1969), and Zelenko (2001).
This is a key to the 3 species known to occur in Italy (Nimis 2016), plus a further species which should be looked for in the country.

References

Coppins B.J.,Vězda A. 1977. Macentina, a lichen genus new to Europe. Lichenologist, 9: 47-49.
Ekman S. 2013. Psoroglaena abscondita new to Sweden. Graphis Scripta, 25: 1-5.
Gilbert O.L. 1996. The occurence of lichens with albino fruit bodies (ascomata) and their taxonomic significance. Lichenologist, 28: 94-97.
Guzow-Krzemińska, B., Halda, J. P., Czarnota, P. 2012. A new Agonimia from Europe with a flabelliform thallus. Lichenologist, 44: 55-66.
Harada, H. 2003. Psoroglaena japonica (lichenized Ascomycota, Verrucariaceae), a new species from Chiba-ken, central Japan, with notes on Psoroglaena. Lichenology, 2: 5-10.
Kubiak D. 2003. Macentina abscondita, a lichen species new to Poland. Acta Mycologica, 38: 105-110.
Longán Á., Gómez-Bolea A. 2000. Agonimia allobata and Macentina dictyospora, two pioneer species on burnt wood. Lichenologist, 30: 589-590.
Lücking R. 2008. Foliicolous lichenized fungi. Flora Neotropica Monograph, 103: 1-866.
Muggia L., Gueidan C., Grube M. 2010. Phylogenetic placement of some morphologically unusual members of Verrucariales. Mycologia, 102: 835–846.
Nimis P.L. 2016. The lichens of Italy. A second annotated catalogue. EUT, Trieste, 740 pp.
Orange A. 1989. Macentina stigonemoides (Verrucariaceae), a new lichenized species from Great Britain and Ireland. Lichenologist, 21: 229-236.
Orange A. 1991. Macentina dictyospora (Verrucariaceae), a new lichenized species from Sweden. Lichenologist, 23: 15-20.
Orange A. 2013. British and Other Pyrenocarpous Lichens. Vers. II. August 2013. https://museum.wales/.../Orange-A-2013-British-and-other-pyrenocarpous-lichens.pdf
Vězda A. 1969. Leucocarpia gen. nov. eine neue Gattung der Flechtenfamilie Verrucariaceae. Herzogia, 1: 187-194.
Zelenko S.D. 2001. Novyi dlia likhenoflory Ukrainy rid Macentina Vězda (Ascomycota, Verrucariaceae). Ukrayins'kyi Botanichnyi Zhurnal, 58: 86-89.

Last modified: September, 7, 2022

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