Briefly Noted

Abstract

In this major study of Ramalina in Australia, the author first provides a discussion of the Australian environment, an historical overview, and a particularly useful survey of the morphology and anatomy by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Soralium types are well-illustrated by SEM, and soredia were found to be of two forms, with or without an outer covering recalling an epicortical layer; these occur in different species, and it is evident that soredia in other lichens merit more careful examination in future. Variations in the anatomical structure were found between different parts and sides of a single thallus; caution is required in using such features in species separations, although some were found to have distinctive arrangements of supportive tissues (e.g. R. whinrayi). The cortical structures are also illustrated in transmission electron micrographs (TEM).Distribution types of the Ramalina's are related to climatic indices related to the photosynthetic parameters of phanerogams proposed by Nix in 1972. The paleobiography is analysed in terms of the global distributions of the species and the break-up of Gondwanaland. The genus appears to have originated in west Gondwanaland and then spread eastwards; it is postulated that Australia has been colonized by Ramalina species since the Late Cretaceous, spreading with some of the earliest angiosperm phorophytes. and 343 This is for its and depth of coverage, with distributions of selected species mapped using 1 1 km squares, a synopsis of the history of recording, accounts by substratum, studies on the relationship to air pollution (using a five-zone scale), observations on species favouring man-made substrata, notes on the effects of agriculture (including pesticides), industry, tourism, etc. The annotated species list, which includes some lichenicolous fungi, gives full information on the sources of records for all but the commonest species. Sticta and Stereocaulon were last recorded in 1829, and Lobaria species in 1840; however, Usneafilipendula is still present in several sites. This study provides an important baseline against which future changes can be assessed, but further includes numerous original ecological and distributional observations on particular species rendering this work of more than just local importance. It will be of interest to those concerned with the distribution and ecology of lichens in other parts of Europe which are similarly grossly modified by man. Thirty-nine species belonging to six genera are recognized and keyed out; for each species a short description, details of chemistry, ecology, and distribution are provided (including maps for almost all). The chemistry is given attention, and the t.l.c. characteristics of the compounds detected in three solvent systems are tabulated and their positions indicated diagrammatically.