Lobariella is a genus of foliose lichens, formelry classified in the
Lobariaceae. Within Lobariaceae, species were long arranged in three large genera (
Lobaria,
Pseudocyphellaria, and
Sticta), largely using whether
cyphellae or
pseudocyphellae are present on the lower surface.
Lobariella was proposed as a
segregate for species that instead develop pale spots () and/or small pores on the upper surface, together with a lower, felt-like made of
hyphae with rounded cells. The group was first separated from
Lobaria under the name
Durietzia, but that name was illegitimate as a later
homonym and was replaced by
Lobariella; the
type species is
Lobariella crenulata. A three-gene phylogenetic study found that Lobariaceae contains multiple well-supported evolutionary
lineages and argued that these lineages are better treated as separate genera than forced into the traditional three-genus scheme. In that framework,
Lobariella forms a distinct lineage within the broader
Lobaria group, close to the
Lobaria peltigera group (treated there as the genus
Yoshimuriella) and the
Sticta wrightii group (treated there as the genus
Dendriscosticta). With expanded sampling, the same work greatly enlarged the
circumscription of
Lobariella, recognizing 26 species in the genus and describing 19 of them as new.
Lobariella is recognized by the development of distinct maculae and/or pseudocyphellae on the upper surface (the surface may otherwise be smooth when young and become more uneven with age), and by a usually pale, even lower tomentum that is not arranged into vein-like patterns. The genus is centred in the
Neotropics (from Mexico to southern Brazil), although some records extend beyond that region (for example, reports of
L. crenulata from
Hawaii). At the species level, the study found that combinations of external form, the identity of the
photosynthetic partner, and secondary chemistry tend to track major evolutionary lineages, helping to separate species that had previously been treated under a small number of broad names. ==Species==