Lecanorales

Abstract

A general introduction to the problems of systematics in this group has been provided by Hafellner (this volume). The Lecanorales are a huge order with around 6000 species, including the majority of lichenized species. We consequently have many problems to confront. In order to facilitate discussion, the four of us have tabled a document synthesizing our collective knowledge. We could not agree on all details, so this again is something of a compromise. The system we propose is mainly based on morphological and anatomical characters that can be seen by light microscopy, ascus characters playing a central role. We regard ascomatal ontogeny as fundamental but could not use it extensively because of a lack of published data. The numbers of species we have studied is small in comparison to those that exist, and we concentrated on the type species of the genera. In some cases data remained incomplete, for example that on the conidial apparatus. Complete character sets are currently available for only about 1% of Lecanorales. We plan to publish an annotated version of the tabled document, including key characters for the suborders after receiving comments at this Workshop.