Ramalina europaea Gasparyan, Sipman & Lücking

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 : 259-260

Ramalina europaea Gasparyan, Sipman & Lücking ; Mycobank #819386

The Lichenologist 49 (4): 306 (2017). Type:― Sweden, Södermanland, Lerbo parish, 1·7 km NE of Lerbo church, 600m SW Dagöholm, the Natura 2000 habitat

Dagöholmsbackarna, W of the road, wooded meadow with very old Quercus robur , on Quercus robur , 30 m, 58°59·120’N,

16°27·254’E, grazed, 7 May 2015, A. Gasparyan s. n. (B 60 0201019— holotype) ( Gasparyan et al. 2017).

Thallus fruticose, erect to subpendulous, 11 to 32 mm long, light greenish-yellow to light green with similar surfaces. Lobes attached at the base, mostly flat, abundant, unevenly dichotomously to palmately branched, upright or rarely pendant, solid, about 3 mm wide; branches surface shiny, smooth, or wrinkled. Soralia orbicular, 1–4 mm wide, producing soredia of 50–70 mµ diameter, present on the underside of widened lobe tips of more or less labriform lobes and along lobe margins, infrequently on the lamina; spine-like extensions at the lobe tips also produce granules in little apical soralia. Apothecia very rare, not seen.

Chemistry: Medulla spot tests K–, C–, KC–, P–, UV–; TLC: Usnic, evernic acids ( Gasparyan et al. 2017).

Ecology and distribution: R. europaea grows on trunks of deciduous trees like Quercus spp , coniferous trees, in mixed forests, on phorophyte species such as Acer saccharum , Liriodendron sp. , Nyssa sp. , and Thuja sp. It also grows on rocky substrates ( Gasparyan et al. 2017). This species is widely spread across Southwestern Asia in Iran and Armenia, as well as in Europe, including Austria, Belgium, Norway, Romania, Finland, Russia, Sweden, and Turkey ( Gasparyan et al. 2017, Sérusiaux et al. 2021).

Note: Ramalina europaea bears a strong resemblance to Ramalina pollinaria (Westr.)Ach. , but distinguishes itself can be distinguished by the presence of spine-like branchlets adorned with small punctiform soralia. Both corticolous and saxicolous populations of R. europaea exhibit similar ovoid excavated depressions on the underside although those are notably smaller than those found in R. pollinaria s. str. ( Sérusiaux et al. 2021).

See also the remarks on the Ramalina pollinaria group under R. arsenii . In Armenia, R. europaea is the commonest species of the group. From 14 sequenced specimens ( Gasparyan et al. 2017), 11 turned out to belong to R. europaea , 3 to R. pollinaria and none to R. arsenii .

Specimens examined: EAST AZERBAIJAN PROVINCE: Kalibar, ca. 4 km from Kalibar town Galadarasi, toward Babak Castle Arasbaran forest none Protect area, 38.836946N, 46.987100E, 1750–2000 m, 19 August 2005, corticolous, on bark of deciduous tree, M. Sohrabi 4527 (NY & H, ICH, Herb. Sohrabi). GILAN PROVINCE: Rudbar, 37.024N, 49.532E, 10 May 2019, obsr1134639, OBS765182570 (CLO), M. Sohrabi 308 98 (herb. Sohrabi). GOLESTAN PROVINCE: Aliabbad, Zaringol to Afratakhteh village beside the road., 36.8199N, 54.9828E, 500 m, 5 September 2002, M. Sohrabi 1996 (herb Sohrabi); Kordkuy, Derazno village, 1 km towards TV Broadcast Tower, 36.667896N, 54.164537E, 1900 m, 15 November 2017, on the bark of a deciduous tree, M. Sohrabi & M. Ghobad-Nejhad 30842 (ICH), (30846) (herb. Sohrabi), 31490 (ICH), accompanying species: Ramalina pollinaria , R. farinacea ; Gorgan Distr., Tuskestan Forest, 36° 44.98′N, 054° 34.01′E, 650 m, disturbed deciduous forest, 2007, H. Sipman 55215B (B). Genbank # MW892977 ( Sérusiaux et al. 2021). SEMNAN PROVINCE: Shahroud county, Dasht-E Shad village, 2 km towards Loveh village, Dasht-e-Kalpoush, 37.259628N, 55.728060E, 1900 m, 19 Nov. 2017, on the bark of deciduous trees, M. Sohrabi 30900, 30958 (ICH, herb. Sohrabi), 30898 (ICH) accompany species: Ramalina farinacea . MAZANDARAN PROVINCE: Farim, 5 km from Shahid Rajaie Dam, 36.220084N, 53.272434E, 921 m, 19 November 2017, on the bark of a deciduous tree, M. Sohrabi 30178 (ICH); Galougah 6 km to Sefid Chah, Northen slope of the road, 36.66266N, 53.81353E, 902 m, 19 November 2017, on the bark of deciduous tree, M. Sohrabi 30156 (ICH); Royan, Royan Baledeh road, Donkoh village, 36.37251N, 51.89057E, 1550 m, 13 November 2017, on the bark of a deciduous tree, M. Sohrabi & M. Ghobad-Nejhad 30276, 30280 (ICH, herb. Sohrabi).