Ramalina cf. conduplicans Vain.

Sharifi, Maryam, Mehregan, Iraj, Sohrabi, Mohammad, Larijani, Kambiz & Sipman, Harrie, 2025, A synopsis of the lichen genus Ramalina (Ramalinaceae) in Iran, Phytotaxa 702 (3), pp. 255-273 : 259

Ramalina cf. conduplicans Vain. ; Mycobank #403683

Ann. bot. Soc. Zool.-Bot. fenn. Vanamo 1 (no. 3): 35 (1921).

Type:― Siam borealis, in summo monte Doi Sutep, ad troncos arborum, 1904, leg. C. C. Hosseus [TUR] ( Kashiwadani 1986).

Thallus corticolous, ca. 3 cm long, deeply dissected. Lobes narrow, densely branched, pale yellow to grey-green, 1–1.5 mm wide, ca. 0.2 mm thick, stiff, canaliculated, slightly grooved and ridged. Soralia absent. Pseudocyphellae present, white, punctiform to elliptic, sessile. Apothecia abundant, on the side margins of the lobes.

Chemistry: Medulla spot tests K–, C–, KC–, PD–, UV+blue-white; TLC: Divaricatic acid.

Ecology and Distribution: The only available Iranian specimen was collected in 2009 by M. Eskandari in Mazandaran, “Haraz Road, Siahbisheh to Tiran Forest”. In the same packet was also R. hyrcana . No further details of the ecology and distribution of the species are known. Information published for R. conduplicans cannot be applied as long as the identification is uncertain. R. conduplicans is widespread in the Himalaya ( Pant & Awasthi 2003).

Note: The Iranian specimen is well characterized by its stiff, linear, canaliculate thallus lobes with punctiform pseudocyphellae spread over the surface and hardly raised, without soralia. These characters are shared by R. conduplicans , which differs according to the description by Pant & Awasthi (2003) by the presence of the sekikaic acid aggregate and the absence of divaricatic acid. More samples are needed to find out if the chemical difference is constant and may indicate a separate species.

Initially, we compared the sample with R. africana , and this identification was available temporarily on the GBIF website. However, it deviates from this species by the absence of the sekikaic acid aggregate and the pseudocyphellae which are not raised on tubercles. The key we used ( Swinscow & Krog 1988) includes another similar species, R. asperula Kremp. , which agrees by the presence of divaricatic acid and not-raised, round pseudocyphellae. However, its thallus has shorter and wider, slightly wrinkled lobes.