Peltigera (dog lichens) is a genus of lichenized fungi present on all continents but particularly common, for example, in boreal forests. The use of molecular systematics has revealed that a high number of lichen species remain undiscovered, even in this relatively well-known genus. A survey of Peltigera on the East African mountain Mt. Kilimanjaro revealed eight species to be present in the studied habitats, ranging from lower-montane forest to alpine heath. Four species, P. dolichorhiza, P. polydactyloides, P. praetextata, and P. ulcerata, have a wide distribution over several montane vegetation zones, even though the last two were only found from pristine natural habitats. Four species, P. rufescentiformis, P. seneca, P. sorediifera, and P. alkalicola sp. nov. were only present in subalpine and alpine zones. The new species P. alkalicola was only found growing on presumably alkaline trachybasaltic lava in the harsh high-elevation habitats of Mt. Kilimanjaro but, based on data in the NCBI GenBank, the species probably inhabits also other cold and/or mountainous regions of the world.
Kaasalainen U, Biermann L, Mollel NP, Schmidt AR, Hemp A. 2022. Peltigera (Lecanoromycetes) on Mt Kilimanjaro, East Africa. The Lichenologist 54: 231–243, doi.org/10.1017/S0024282922000184.
Keywords: Eastern Afromontane biodiversity hotspot, Mount Kilimanjaro, nuITS, Tanzania, Peltigerales, Lecanoromycetes
