The genus Aspiciliella M. Choisy, as currently circumscribed, comprises three accepted species: A. intermutans (Nyl.) M. Choisy, A. cupreoglauca (B. de Lesd.) Zakeri et al. and A. portosantana Sipman & Zakeri (Zakeri et al. Reference Zakeri, Divakar and Otte2017).
A name also applied to lichens in the Aspicilia intermutans group is “A. reticulata Kremp.”. It was used, for example, in the Handbook of Lichens of the USSR (Kopaczevskaja et al. Reference Kopaczevskaja, Makarevich, Oxner and Rassadina1971) as the name for the whole complex, with A. intermutans treated at the varietal level. This became a basis for floristic records of “A. reticulata” in the literature, which may often refer to other Aspiciliella species. Our paper aims to establish the identity of A. reticulata.
The species name Aspicilia reticulata was first mentioned by Arnold (Reference Arnold1869), referring to Rehm in litt. and to a specimen (cited as number 32B of Rehm) collected by Metzler in 1867 near Hyères (France) (Fig. 1A). This name was not validly published because it was not accompanied by a description. Nylander (Reference Nylander1886, p. 466) referred to this material as follows: “Asp. reticulata Rehm. Arn. Tirol 1869, p. 610 (sine ulla definitione) non differt nisi ut forma thallo pallescente a Lecanora intermutante vulgari in Gallia praesertim maritima, sed ambae etiam in eodem specimine simul obviae conspiciuntur”. It is evident that Nylander did not intend to provide a validating description here, but did comment on the material (“Observationes”) that he did not accept it as a new taxon. A validating description was given only by Steiner (Reference Steiner1898), at the varietal level as Lecanora intermutans var. reticulata, in a paper dedicated to the lichens of Greece. The type material cited by Steiner is a specimen from Greece (“auf Schiefer der höchsten Spitze des Godaman”, leg. Nider) on which his description is based. It bears no apothecia, only pycnidia, but according to Steiner “gehört die Flechte sicher hierher”. However, Steiner refers to a specimen of Metzler’s collection from Hyères, indicated as “Originalmaterial” and seen by him in the herbarium of Vienna University, which confirmed his opinion of the identity of Nider’s material. Thus, both collections represent syntypes and consequently a lectotype must be chosen. Interestingly, Steiner refers to the brown colour of Metzler’s material (“Originalmaterial”), which is in direct conflict with Nylander’s remark. Steiner, who cites Nylander, explains this conflict as being due to darkening (“Nachdunkeln”). Finally, Steiner (Reference Steiner1919) raised the taxon to species level. By referring to his name given for the varietal level in Steiner (Reference Steiner1898), he made the type of his name previously validly published at varietal level, also the type of his new combination Lecanora reticulata (J. Steiner) J. Steiner.
A, Aspicilia reticulata lectotype collected from Hyères, WU 887 (Metzler 1867- Rehm no. 32B); B, Aspicilia reticulata, isolectotype H-Nyl 25458. C–F, Aspiciliella cupreoglauca, neotype B 60 0200002; C, thallus with apothecia; D, filiform, straight conidia; E, ascus; F, cross-section of cortex and medulla. Scales: A-C = 2 mm; D = 25 µm; E = 75 µm; F = 250 µm. In colour online.
One might argue that the Greek material, on which Steiner’s valid description is based, should be chosen as the lectotype. However, this material is sterile. We therefore chose Metzler’s material from Hyères as the lectotype, named “Originalmaterial” by Steiner, and which led him to the identification of his Greek material as this taxon. Metzler’s material is also represented by duplicates in other herbaria, besides that of Vienna University. Having studied the material from WU, we are able to confirm that this is the specimen studied by Steiner; this is obvious from his handwriting indicating the name (Lecanora intermutans var. reticulata) and from measurements of the conidia and hymenium. Here we designate this specimen (WU 887) as the lectotype of Lecanora intermutans var. reticulata Rehm in Arnold ex J. Steiner, and thus also of Lecanora reticulata (Rehm in Arnold ex J. Steiner) J. Steiner.
The type of A. reticulata accurately represents the taxon commonly known as Aspicilia cupreoglauca, and the characters in the description of A. reticulata agree with those of A. cupreoglauca. Also, the type localities of these two entities are situated in relative proximity in Mediterranean France. Bouly de Lesdain (Reference Bouly de Lesdain1910) described Aspicilia cupreoglauca based on a collection by Abbé Soulié from Hérault. According to B. Dennetière (pers. comm.), the herbarium of Bouly de Lesdain in Dunkirk was destroyed during World War II (see also Grummann Reference Grummann1974) and no duplicates of A. cupreoglauca type material were traced in PC. In order to fix the use of the name Aspicilia cupreoglauca in accordance with the original description and with the general use of this name, we choose a neotype of A. cupreoglauca below.
Since A. cupreoglauca was described as a species in 1910 and the specific epithet reticulata was validly published only in 1919 when Steiner raised his L. intermutans var. reticulata to species level, the epithet cupreoglauca has priority over the epithet reticulata at species level. Hence we synonymize the related names here.
Aspiciliella cupreoglauca (B. de Lesd.) Zakeri, Divakar & Otte
Herzogia 30(1): 172 (2017).
Basionym. Aspicilia cupreoglauca B. de Lesd., Bull. Soc. Bot. Fr. 57: 32 (1910); types: France, Hérault, Prémian vers Langlade, 500 m alt., sur des schistes, 1909, Abbé Soulié (holotype, apparently destroyed); Greece, North Aegean Region, Lesbos, between Vatoussa and Antissa along provincial road, alt. 180 m, 26°01·07′E, 39°14·05′N, on volcanic rock cliff in river gorge, 7 Oct. 2015, H. Sipman & Th. Raus 62440 (B 60 0200002—neotype, designated here; GLM—isoneotype, GenBank Accession numbers: KY576956 (nrLSU), KY576932 (mtSSU) and KY618845 (ITS)).
Lecanora reticulata (Rehm in Arnold ex J. Steiner) J. Steiner, Verh. Zool.-Bot. Ges. Wien 69: 84 (1919).—Aspicilia reticulata Rehm in Arnold, Verh. K. K. Zool.-Bot. Ges. Wien 19: 610 (1869), nom. nud.—Lecanora intermutans var. reticulata Rehm in Arnold ex J. Steiner, Sitzungsber. Kaiserl. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Math.-Naturwiss. Cl. Abt. 1 107: 142 (1898); types: France, Hyères, 1867, Metzler (WU 887—lectotype, selected here; H-NYL 25458 (Fig. 1B), S-L4960, M-0102336—isolectotypes); Greece, auf Schiefer der höchsten Spitze des Godaman, Nider (WU—syntype).
(Fig. 1C-F)
The authors are grateful to the curators of the herbaria H and WU for the loan of specimens. Financial support from the Ungerer Foundation is gratefully acknowledged. AP would like to thank Andreas Beck (M) and Bruno Dennetière (PC) for their hospitality and for the opportunity to work in the herbaria, RFBR (project 18-04-00414) and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (agreement no. 02.A03.21.0006) for financial support.
