Psoroma nigropunctatum sp. nov., an alpine lichen in south-eastern Australia related to P. buchananii

Abstract

<i>Psoroma nigropunctatum</i> is described as new to science, based on collections from alpine and subalpine areas of the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and New South Wales. It grows on soil or mosses on rock outcrops and in tussock grasslands. It had previously been misidentified as <i>Psoroma hypnorum</i>, but it is more closely related to <i>P. buchananii</i>. The two species have large pycnidia and non-verrucose perispores with large, pulvinate apical extensions, but they differ in habit, and the spores of <i>P. nigropunctatum</i> are longer and have a perispore that lacks latitudinal gibbae.