Verrucariaceae from Nepal

Abstract Twenty-eight species of Verrucariaceae are reported from Nepal. One genus and nine species are described as new: Nesothele gen. nov., sister to Staurothele s. lat., with a crustose to squamulose thallus, hymenial algae and 4–8 colourless muriform ascospores per ascus; Nesothele glebulosa sp. nov., resembling N. rugulosa but with smaller perithecia; Thelidium uvidulum sp. nov., producing a thin thallus with soralia, prominent perithecia, and 1-septate ascospores; Verrucaria antepotens sp. nov., having a well-developed thallus with dark-sided areoles, immersed perithecia, and small ascospores 12.5–16.5 μm long; V. lactea sp. nov., resembling V. praetermissa but with larger ascospores and a strongly deviating ITS sequence; V. parvipeltata sp. nov., with brown, basally constricted areoles on an extensive dark prothallus; V. senta sp. nov., with a brown cracked thallus and prominent naked perithecia; Willeya eminens sp. nov., with prominent perithecia, and differing from W. protrudens in its ITS sequence; W. irrigata sp. nov. with a thallus cracked into dark-sided areoles, and relatively large ascospores 28.5–40 μm long; W. nepalensis sp. nov. with a cracked thallus, immersed perithecia and a distinctive ITS sequence. Three species complexes might contain new taxa, but wider geographical sampling is necessary before delimiting species: Thelidium minutulum , Verrucaria elaeomelaena and V. hydrophila . Five new combinations are made: Willeya honghensis comb. nov. (for Staurothele honghensis ), Nesothele globosa comb. nov. (for Endocarpon globosum ), N . hymenogonia comb. nov. (for Staurothele hymenogonia ), N. rugulosa comb. nov. (for Staurothele rugulosa ) and N. succedens comb. nov. (for Staurothele succedens ). Four species are unidentified.