New species of Pertusaria (lichenized Ascomycota: Pertusariaceae) from the Canary Islands Israel PÉREZ-VARGAS, Consuelo HERNANDEZ-PADRÓN, Javier ETAYO, Pedro L. PÉREZ de PAZ and John A. ELIX Abstract: Pertusaria aceroae and Pertusaria calderae from the Canary Islands are described as new to science. A description of each species is given together with notes on their chemistry, distribution, ecology and taxonomy. Related lichen taxa are discussed. Key words: La Palma, taxonomy, Pertusariales Introduction The genus Pertusaria DC. has a worldwide distribution with over 350 species, being par- ticularly common in subtropical and temper- ate regions (Lumbsch & Nash 2002). The genus is characterized by a crustose thallus, hemiangiocarpous apothecia often sunken in verrucae, the presence of a cupulate exciple, primary paraphysoids present in the hama- thecium of mature ascomata, thick-walled asci with bivalve dehiscence, and one-celled, often thick-walled, hyaline to brownish asco- spores (Lumbsch & Schmitt 2001). The morphological characters show a remarkable variability and, in addition, the chemistry of the genus is very complex. The genus has received considerable at- tention during the past few decades, which has resulted in numerous revisions and the description of many new species (Dibben 1980; Hanko 1983; Kantvilas 1990; Archer 1995, 1997, 2004; Lumbsch et al. 1999; Zhao et al. 2004; Messuti 2005; Sipman 2006; Messuti et al. 2007; Zhurbenko & Lumbsch 2006; Lendemer et al. 2008; Archer & Elix 2009). Molecular studies have shown that Pertusaria is a polyphyletic genus and could be divided into three mono- phyletic groups (Lumbsch & Schmitt 2001; Schmitt & Lumbsch 2004). The Macaronesian Islands form part of one of the 25 World Biodiversity Hotspots (Myers et al. 2000), and the Canary Islands play a key role within this region (Médail & Quézel 1997, 1999). The lichen biota of the Canary Islands is rich, with c. 1500 species listed for an area of just 7447 km 2 (Hernández Padrón 2004). Nevertheless, new records arise and new species continue to be described from the islands with some frequency (Giralt et al. 2002; Etayo & Marbach 2003; Elix & Schumm 2003; Hernández Padrón et al. 2004; van den Boom & Ve ˇzda 2005; van den Boom & Etayo 2006; Pérez-Vargas et al. 2007; Giralt & van den Boom 2009; Pérez-Vargas & Pérez de Paz 2009), confirming that the lichen biota in this region with its many ecosystems, is insuffi- ciently known. In the present paper we describe two new species of Pertusaria from La Caldera de Taburiente National Park, La Palma. Material and Methods The specimens were collected from conifers in the high mountains of La Caldera de Taburiente National Park (La Palma) and deposited in CANB, TFC, and the I. Pérez-Vargas, C. Hernandez-Padrón and P. L. Pérez de Paz: Departamento de Biologìa Vegetal (Botánica), Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife 38201, Canary Islands, Spain. Email: ispeva@ull.es J. Etayo: Navarro Villoslada 16, 3º dcha., 31003 Pamplona, Navarra, Spain. J. A. Elix: Research School of Chemistry, Building 33, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia. The Lichenologist 42(1): 35–41 (2010) © British Lichen Society, 2009 doi:10.1017/S0024282909990442