Lichens of Madagascar
Little work has been done on the lichens of Madagascar, so while over 500 species of lichens have been documented, more are expected. Madagascar can be divided into two major habitats that can be associated with lichen distribution. Wet tropical areas of siliceous bedrock make up approximately two-thirds of the country, and are where most of the lichens have been documented. Dry tropical areas of granitic and limestone bedrock make up the other one-third of the country with just over 20 species documented in these habitats. The following table lists the species known from the dry tropical habitats. The majority are corticolous species that grow on the bark of trees or shrubs. A few are saxicolous; species that grow on rocks. The full list of 500 lichens can be found at.
SPECIES | TYPE |
Canoparmelia quintarigera Aptroot | Corticolous |
Clandestinotrema minutum Aptroot | Corticolous |
Contrictolumina leucostoma Lücking & al. | Corticolous |
Crespoa inhaminensis Lendemer & B. P. Hodk. | Corticolous |
Dermatiscum thunbergii Nyl. | Saxicolous |
Dirina madagascariensis Tehler & al. | Corticolous |
Dirinaria complicata D. D. Awasthi | Corticolous |
Glyphis scyphulifera Staiger | Corticolous |
Isalonactis madagascariensis Ertz. & al. | Corticolous |
Lecanora helva Stizenb | Corticolous |
Lecanora leprosa Fée | Corticolous |
Lecanora subflava Tuck. | Corticolous |
Lecanora tropica Zahlbr. | Corticolous |
Mycoporum californicum R. C. Harris | Corticolous |
Opegrapha varians Vain. | Corticolous |
Roccella africana Vain. | Corticolous |
Roccella applanata M. Choisy | Corticolous |
Roccella belangeriana D. D. Awasthi | Corticolous |
Roccella boryi Delise ex Fée | Corticolous |
Roccella linearis Vain. | Corticolous |
Roccella montagnei Bél. | Corticolous |
Sclerophyton madagascariense Sparrius | Corticolous |
Xanthoparmelia subflabellata Hale | Saxicolous |
While many of the lichens found to date in Madagascar are relatively widespread, tropical species, some are endemic. Isalonactis madagascariensis, for example, is known only from its type locality near Isalo National Park, and new species continue to be found.