Format: ORAL

Karina Wilk1 Robert Lcking2

1 W. Szafer Institute of Botany Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow, Poland 2 Botanischer Garten, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

The genus Wetmoreana includes saxicolous, crustose-lobate to squamulose species with bright orange anthraquinones, often producing vegetative propagules such as isidia, papillae, schizidia or soredia. It is known throughout the Americas, Africa and Asia. The origin of the genus is unknown, but the highest diversity occurs in South America, perhaps indicating this continent as the centre of its diversification. The genus was studied using quantitative integrative taxonomy methods to resolve its delimitation and explore its taxonomic diversity at the species level. As a result, the number of taxa within Wetmoreana increased from four to sixteen, including six newly described species, as well as six species newly transferred to this genus. Among the latter are some species for which DNA sequences are as yet unavailable. Their classification within Wetmoreana was tested using a quantitative approach based on phenotypic traits combined with the evaluation of phylogenetic signals by means of phenotype-based phylogenetic binning. Clade distinctiveness of all recognised taxa at the generic, specific and intra-specific levels was assessed by a multi-response permutation procedure (MRPP). The taxa of interest mainly represent poorly studied South American species and are characterized by a certain variability in phenotypic traits. Such variable taxa pose a challenge to taxonomists, and our results confirm the usefulness of statistical methods in assessing such difficult species complexes.