Sticta puebloensis (Lichenized Ascomycota: Peltigeraceae) a New species of Sticta from the American Southwest

In a continued effort to dismantle the Sticta fuliginosa morphodeme of western North America, we performed an extensive sampling throughout the mountainous regions of the southwestern states of the USA: Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. Recent studies have concluded the genus Sticta has extensive hidden biodiversity and is a large sub-cosmopolitan species-rich genus that encompasses 500+ taxa and counting. The prior treatment, incorporating all laminal isidiate species of Sticta into the Sticta fulignosa s.str. and Sticta sylvatica s.str. morphodemes, was incorrect. Our data does not support those previous treatments nor the broad application of European species concepts of isidiate Sticta in Western North America. Instead, our 4-locus phylogenetic analyses support a narrowing of that concept to a single species of Sticta that is neither S. fuliginosa s.str. nor S. sylvatica s.str. and is a distinct species with a specialized ecological niche. This unique proposed species is named and described here as Sticta puebloensis sp. nov.