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Monoblastia pellucida is described as a new species of the poorly known lichen genus Monoblastia. The species is remarkable because it lacks carbonization of the ascocarp, a rare feature among pyrenocarpous lichens. The genus is placed in the family Monoblastiaceae together with Ditremis (syn. Anisomeridium) and Acrocordia. The genus Monoblastia is currently thought to comprise only one or two species and to be included in the Pertusariaceae, a family of lichenized asco- mycetes with immersed apothecia (Eriksson & Hawksworth 1988). While identifying pyrenocarpous lichens from a recent trip to the tropics, I came across specimens that could not be readily assigned to a genus known to me. Dr. R. C. Harris kindly suggested that they would belong to the genus Monoblastia Riddle, which he resurrected for pyrenocarpous lichens with a filamentous hamathecium and unicellular, con- spicuously ornamented spores (Harris 1990; Tucker & Harris 1980). In addition to the three species treated in Harris (1990), two more undescribed ones are known (Harris, pers. comm.). |
