New species of lichen for Colombia tropical dry forest Author Soto-Medina, Edier Grupo de Investigación Ecología y Diversidad Vegetal, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Exactas, Calle 13 # 100 - 00, Universidad del Valle, Cali (Colombia) edier. soto @ correounivalle. edu. co (corresponding authorship) Author Aptroot, André Laboratório de Botânica / Liquenologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Avenida Costa e Silva, s / n, 79070 - 900, Campo Grande, MS (Brazil) Author Lücking, Robert Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum, Freie Universität Berlin, KÖnigin-Luise-Strasse 6 - 8, 14195 Berlin (Germany) text Cryptogamie, Mycologie 2023 2023-08-23 20 7 103 107 http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4878.3.2 journal article 10.5252/cryptogamie-mycologie2023v44a7 1776-100X 8296198 Ocelullaria vallensis Soto-Medina & Lücking , sp. nov. ( Fig. 2 ) A new Ocelullaria similar to O. buckii Lücking , but differing in the larger ascospores and fewer septae. FIG . 1. — Astrothelium caucavallense Soto-Medina & Aptroot , sp. nov. : A , habitus; B , ascospores. Scale bars: A, 10 mm; B, 10 μm. HOLOTYPE . — Colombia . Valle del Cauca , Municipio Andalucía, Hacienda el Verdún , 4°06’30”N , 76°07’09”W , 1056 m , tropical dry forest, 8-13.XII.2020 , Soto Medina 87 VER (holo-, TULV ). ETYMOLOGY. — The epithet refers to the Valle del Cauca , in short “Valle”. ECOLOGY . — This species grows on bark of Simira Aubl. in tropical dry forest. CHEMISTRY . — Thallus UV–, K–, C–; medulla C–, K–, KC–. MYCOBANK . — MB 849070. DESCRIPTION Thallus corticolous, crustose, up to 7 cm diam., continuous; surface shallowly verrucose-rugose, green-gray to grey; prothallus absent. Photobiont of a species of Trentepohlia . Ascomata rounded to slightly irregular in outline, immersed-erumpent, with almost complete thalline margin, 0.4-0.6 mm diam., 0.1 mm high; disc covered by 0.07-0.15 mm wide pore, filled by black-tipped columella; proper margin distinct, visible as brown-black rim around the pore; thalline margin entire, smooth to shallowly verrucose, grey. Excipulum entire, in lower portion brown, apically carbonized, about 30 µm wide; columella present, finger-like, up to 90 µm broad and 120 µm high, completely carbonized; hypothecium 5-10 µm high, hyaline; hymenium up to 120 µm high, hyaline, not inspersed. Paraphyses unbranched, apically smooth; periphysoids absent; asci cylindrical to clavate, about 120 × 17 µm. Ascospores 8 per ascus, more or less uniseriate, ellipsoid, 3-septate, about 42-45 ×14-15 µm, I+ violet-blue. NOTES With its columellate apothecia, the small, hyaline, transversely-septate ascospores, and the lack of secondary compounds, Ocelullaria vallense Soto-Medina & Lücking , sp. nov. is to be placed into the O. papillata (Leight.) Zahlbr. complex sensu Lücking (2015) . In this complex, there are four species with apically carbonized excipulum and carbonized columella. Ocellularia marmorata L.I.Ferraro, Lücking, Aptroot & M.Cáceres from Argentina differs in the minutely grainy thallus with columnar crystals and the 5-7-septate ascospores, whereas in the paleotropical O. krathingensis Homchant. & Coppins the ascospores are 7-11-septate. The pantropical O. viridipallens Müll. Arg. differs in the more greenish, finely verrucose thallus and the apothecia lacking a blackish proper margin and with an apically pruinose columella. Most similar is O. buckii Lücking from Brazil ( Lücking 2015 ), agreeing well in thallus and apothecial morphology with the new species but has much smaller ascospores (20-25× 7-8µm).