Fungalpedia – Note 3285, Lecanoromycetes
Lecanoromycetes O.E. Erikss. & Winka, Myconet 1(1): 7 (1997).
Citation when using this data: Wijayawardene NN et al. 2024 – Fungalpedia.
Index Fungorum, Faceoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig 1.
Classification: Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Dikarya, Fungi.
Notes: The class Lecanoromycetes, one of the largest classes of phylum Ascomycota, was introduced by Eriksson and Winka (1997). It comprises the vast majority of the lichenized fungi. Apart from this, it accommodates some species that are parasitic on lichens, either with their own separate algae, or without separate algae and using the algae of the host; there are also some groups with a saprobic life style. Rambold and Triebel (1992) provided a discussion and list of such species.
Based on Lücking et al. (2017) and Wijayawardene et al. (2022a), the class comprises 21 orders, 82 families, around 775 genera and around 15,500 species. The saprobic life style is largely restricted to a small part of the Ostropales.
The members of the Lecanoromycetes are distributed over a broad range of ecosystems. They are most conspicuous in boreal, (ant) arctic and alpine ecosystems, where they cover vast areas of soil and rock. In other ecosystems they are present on tree bark and living leaves. As with almost every group, they are most diverse in the tropics. They are themselves often host to other, so-called intralichenic, filamentous fungi and/or yeasts (Spribille et al. 2016; Grimm et al. 2021).
The main use of Lecanoromycetes is for the biomonitoring of air pollution (Giordani 2019). Many species are sensitive to sulphur dioxide, while other species respond positively to ammonia pollution.
Type order: Lecanorales Nannf., Nova Acta R. Soc. Scient. upsal., Ser. 4 8(no. 2): 68 (1932).
Type family: Lecanoraceae Körb. [as ‘Lecanoreae’], Syst. lich. germ. (Breslau): 104 (1855).
Type genus: Lecanora Ach., in Luyken, Tentam. Histor. Lichen. Gen. Prim. Lin. Distrib. nov., Göttingae: 90 (1809) .
Type species: Lecanora argentata (Ach.) Röhl., Deutschl. Fl. (Frankfurt) 3(2): 82 (1813).
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Lecanoromycetes.
Figure 1 – Lecanora saepiphila. a habitat on wood. b section through apothecium, mounted in water. c section through apothecium, mounted in 10% KOH. Pictures by L.A. dos Santos.
References
Eriksson OE, Winka W. 1997 – Supraordinal taxa of Ascomycota. Myconet. 1:1–16.
Rambold G, Triebel D. 1992 – The inter-lecanoralean Associations. Bibl Lichenol 48:1–201.
Entry by
Nalin N. Wijayawardene, Center for Yunnan Plateau Biological Resources Protection and Utilization, College of Biological Resource and Food Engineering, Qujing Normal University, Qujing, Yunnan 655011, P.R. China, Tropical Microbiology Research Foundation, 96/N/10, Meemanagoda Road, 10230 Pannipitiya, Sri Lanka, Department of Bioprocess Technology, Faculty of Technology, Rajarata University, Sri Lanka
Published online 25 September 2026