Today, the State Herbarium of South Australia published one paper in the online version of the Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.

G. Kantvilas, A synopsis and key for the lichen genus Caloplaca (Teloschistaceae) on Kangaroo Island, with the description of two new species (10MB PDF).

Gintaras Kantvilas (Tasmanian Herbarium, Hobart) provides an overview of the cosmopolitan lichen genus Caloplaca Th.Fr. (orange lichen) for Kangaroo Island. Species of Caloplaca are a prominent component of the southern Australian, maritime lichen flora, especially in lower rainfall areas. Species of the genus are responsible for the orange, red and yellow banding of coastal rocks, but they are also found away from the littoral zone on bark, wood, calcareous and siliceous rocks, and consolidated soil in open forest, woodland and heathland, as well as in areas disturbed or modified by man.

Caloplaca gallowayi growing on coastal rocks. This species is usually the dominant contributor to the orange-red zonation of the littoral zone. Photo: G. Kantvilas.

The paper gives a synopsis of the 32 taxa on Kangaroo Island, as well as an identification key. Two further new species are also described, one of which honours the work of Sergey Kondratyuk, the world-authority of the genus and the lichen family Teloschistaceae, and architect of the current Australian Caloplaca taxonomy.

To access content of all volumes of the Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens since Vol. 1 (1976), please visit the journal’s web-site at flora.sa.gov.au/jabg (the Journal is also available through JSTOR).