The Lichens of Greece including lichenicolous fungi. 2025. 740 p. 4to Hardcover. (ISBN 978-3-946583-54-7)

Due August 2025. Orders will be recorded.

INTRODUCTION

This is the first guide to the lichens of Greece ever published. It includes all 1551 taxa at species rank and below that are considered to be reliably reported for Greece. Because the whole of SE Europe and the Mediterranean Basin are poorly served by such guides at present, it will also be of use to workers beyond the borders of Greece itself. It can be
supplemented with the Greek lichen checklist, Abbott (2009).

The lichens of SE Europe and large parts of the Mediterranean are not well known, and there are outstanding taxonomic problems in many groups. Those problems can not be solved here, but I have tried to indicate where the problems are. Their solution will require monographic revisions of the groups concerned, revisions which include far more material from SE Europe and the eastern Mediterranean than has been usual in the past.

Keys include all species reported for Greece, except for a few poorly known ones, and also include, in a different font, many species that have not been reported for Greece but which might be expected to occur here. Inclusion of the latter is important, because the serious worker will eventually encounter species not previously reported for Greece.
The broad scope of the keys will also make them useful for determining collections from other countries in the region. It is advisable to study the entries in the Glossary before attempting to use the keys and before studying the accounts of genera and species in the taxonomic section.

Information on distribution and ecology is provided for all Greek species. Detailed descriptions are provided for those species for which I have seen enough Greek material. For the remaining species, information in the keys amounts to a brief description, and I cite references that can be used by those requiring more detailed descriptions.

The biological scope of this publication is the same as that of Abbott (2009), i.e. 'lichens' as usually understood, lichenicolous fungi, and a few miscellaneous taxa that have often been studied by lichenologists.

My aim has been to put the study of lichens in Greece onto a reasonably firm foundation on which the next generation can build. The earliest drafts of the keys date from 1999, and of other parts from around 2005. I have
gradually improved all parts over the years, but am well aware that many imperfections remain, and that further improvement is desirable. However, there is a limit to what one person, working alone, can accomplish. With advancing years and declining health, I must either publish an imperfect guide now, or accept that no guide will be published. I prefer the first option, and I hope that the reader will too.

The lichens of Greece need a more thorough and more critical treatment than can be provided here. Such a work would require multiple authors, including specialists in the more difficult groups, and would have to be based on a large number of well-studied collections. The multiple authors have yet to appear, collections of Greek lichens are still not extensive, and few are willing to study those that do exist. There seems little prospect of a better work than the present one being published in the near future.

CONTENTS

Introduction 1
Acknowledgments 1
A note for beginners 2
A note on nomenclature 3
Keys to genera 4
Taxonomic section (in alphabetical order of genera) 50
References 685
Glossary and Abbreviations 702
Appendix: Classification of the Fungi 716