Flavonora: a new genus of lecanoroid lichens (Ascomycota, lichenized fungi)

The systematics of lecanoroid lichens, particularly the genus Lecanora, are fraught with difficulties arising from hidden diversity and the morphological plasticity of these organisms. These challenges are further complicated in tropical regions, where despite the richness of the lichen species systematic studies exploring their diversity are still limited. Therefore, the recent molecular survey of Bolivian Lecanora s.l. revealed some taxonomic novelties including the discovery of the distinct evolutionary lineage representing a new genus, Flavonora described here. The genus Flavonora, is distinguished by the following features: brown-orange to reddish pigmentation of hypothecium and conidia if present filiform, in combination with lecanorine apothecia, large crystals always present in the amphithecium, brown-green epihymenium granulose or not, granules soluble in KOH, large spores up to 19.5 μm long, and the presence of perlatolic, 2'-O-methylperlatolic, confluentic acids, as well as usnic acid or xanthones in addition to atranorin. Comprehensive molecular data (mtSSU, nrITS, LSU, rpb1, rpb2, and mcm7) substantiates the establishment of the genus Flavonora as a new genus including the following species: Flavonora boliviana sp. nov., F. inversa comb. nov., F. fimbriatula comb. nov., and F. stramineoalbida comb. nov. (the generic type). Additionally, a focused analysis of Flavonora using mtSSU and nrITS loci was conducted to explore intrageneric relationships, revealing that F. inversa populations from Bolivia and Scotland are genetically distinct, suggesting potential cryptic speciation within this taxon.