New species and new records of Cryptothecia and Herpothallon (Arthoniales) from India T. A. M. JAGADEESH RAM, G. P. SINHA and K. P. SINGH Abstract: Five new species of Cryptothecia: C. alboglauca, C. bengalensis, C. farinosa, C. multipunctata and C. verruculifera, and two new species of Herpothallon: H. granulosum and H. isidiatum are described from India. Herpothallon australasicum (Elix) Elix & G. Thor and H. granulare (Sipman) Aptroot & Lücking are also reported as new records. Key words: Arthoniaceae, lichen-forming fungi Introduction Cryptothecia, a widespread genus in the fam- ily Arthoniaceae (Arthoniales) is represented by 53 species (Thor 1997; Sparrius & Saipunkaew 2005). The genus was estab- lished by Stirton (1877) and subsequently a large number of species was added by various workers. Makhija & Patwardhan (1985, 1987, 1994) studied the genus at world level and recognized 40 species including many new species from India. Later, Lücking (1995), Thor (1997), Sipman (2003), Sparrius & Saipunkaew (2005), Lücking et al. (2006), Elix (2007, 2008) and Wolseley & Aptroot (2009) also added several species to the genus. The lichen genus Herpothallon was established by Tobler (1937) and included in the non-lichenized basidiomycetes. It was later recognized as an ascolichen and referred to as Chiodecton and Cryptothecia in the Roccellaceae and Arthoniaceae, respectively (Aptroot et al. 2009). Recently, Aptroot et al. (2009) reinstated the genus in Cryptothecia s. lat. by including all the sterile, crustose- byssoid species and also discussed the cir- cumscription of the genus and recognized 29 species world-wide. While studying the lichens in eastern India (Assam, Meghalaya, Sikkim and West Bengal) five new species in Cryptothecia and two new species and two new records in Herpothallon have been dis- covered. These new species are described below and short notes on the new records are provided. Material and Methods Specimens collected from eastern India and deposited in ASSAM and BSA were investigated. Thin hand-cut sections of thalli and ascigerous parts (ascomata) were mounted in water, 10% KOH solution, Lugol’s iodine solution and lactophenol cotton blue (LCB) and exam- ined with a Leica DM 2500 research microscope. The lichen substances were identified by thin-layer chroma- tography following White & James (1985). The New Species Cryptothecia alboglauca Jagadeesh Ram, G. P. Sinha & Kr. P. Singh sp. nov. Thallus corticola, epiphloeodes, albo-griseus ad glauco- griseus, laevigatus, vel rimosus, verrucosus; isidia et sore- dia non visa; asci frequentes, aggregati, 6-8-spori, 140– 185 × 135–168 μm; ascosporae hyalinae, ellipsoideae ad ovoideae, muriformes, transverse 8–9- et longitudinaliter 2-6 -septatae, (55–)66–110(–125) × 38–55 μm. Typus: India, West Bengal, Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve, Matla mangrove forests, alt. sea level, on Heritiera fomes, 28 February 2004, T. A. M. Jagadeesh Ram 1045 (BSA— holotypus; CAL—isotypus). (Figs 1A & 2A) T. A. M. J. Ram, G. P. Sinha (corresponding author) and K. P. Singh: Botanical Survey of India, Central Circle, Allahabad—211002, India. Email: drgpsinha@yahoo.co.in The Lichenologist 41(6): 605–613 (2009) © British Lichen Society, 2009 doi:10.1017/S0024282909008123