Lecanora subtecta, an Australian species in the Lecanora symmicta group (Lecanorales) G. Kantvilas^ and S. LaGreca*’"^ ^TasmanianHerbarium,PrivateBag4,Hobart,Tasmania7001,Australia Department of Botany, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom. Current address:FarlowHerbariumofCryptogamicBotany,HarvardUniversity,22DivinityAvenue,Cambridge,MA 02138, UnitedStates;e-mail:g.kantvilas@tmag.tas.gov.au, s.lagreca@yahoo.co.uk Abstract Introduction The newcombination Lecanora subtecta (Stirt.) Kantvilas &LaGreca Is introducedfor anAustralian memberoftheLsymmicta(Ach.) Ach. group. Thespeciesisdescribed andillustrated, andfeatures that distinguishIt fromothermembersof the complex are discussed. Muelleria 26(2): 72-76 (2008) Lecanora symmicta is a widespread species in temperate latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, where it grows on bark, wood and worked timber. It is described and/or illustrated in a wide range of European and American floras (e.g. Brodo etal. 2001; Hawksworth & Dalby 1992; Nimis 1993; Ryan et al. 2004; Wirth 1995) although all authors agree that it represents a complex of poorly understood species that require considerable study (LaGreca etaL 2000; Printzen & May 2002; Sliwa & Wetmore2000).Someprogresswithregardstospeciescircumscription within the group has been made—for example, the segregation of L brucei Printzen (Ryan etal. 2004)—but much work remains to be done. The species has been recorded in Australasia (Galloway 1985, 2007; Lumbsch & Elix 2004) where similar problems of delimitation and taxonomyarerecognised.WhilstthenameLecanorasymmictaisinuse inregionalchecklists(e.g.McCarthy2008),itislikelythatultimatelythis namewillhavemorelimitedgeographicalandtaxonomicapplication. Study of types of early Australian lichens has revealed a name for one of the entities of the complex which is frequently encountered in Tasmania.Theappropriatenomenclaturalchangeisintroducedhere. R«.vjl lJot.inic (j.udens Material and methods The Study is based on material housed in the Tasmanian Herbarium (HO) and comparative material in BM. Anatomical investigations were conducted on hand-cut sections of thalli and apothecia mounted in water, 10% KOH, concentrated HNO^ lactophenol cotton blue and Lugol's iodine. Measurements of ascospores are based on at least 70 observations and are presented in the format: lowest value-meon- highestvalue. Chemical constituentswereidentified routinelybythin- layer chromatography using standard methods (solvents A, B', and C: Culberson & Ammann 1979; Culberson & Johnson 1982); selected analyses were also undertaken by Prof J.A. Elix (Canberra) using high- 72 Vol 26(2) 2008