This volume features 30 contributions by 54 authors on the occasion of the 60th birthday of Jack Elix in 2001. The contributions to this Festschrift cover new or otherwise interesting lichens.

Mycotaxon vol. 84, Jan. 2003

There are thirty papers, almost all of which are taxonomic and this reflects the area in which Jack Elix himself has made the greatest contribution, following in the footsteps of Mason E. Hale in using lichen chemistry to resolve taxonomic problems in lichenology. Some of the papers (NASH et al., PORZEL & HUNECK and SØCHTING, for instance) are primarily about lichen chemistry but the majority deal with Elix's other main interests, Australian and tropical lichens and the taxonomy of the Parmeliaceae. Invidious though it is to single out papers amongst such an excellent selection, some of the more significant are the accounts by GALLOWAY of Placopsis in New Zealand, where that genus is remarkably diverse; JAMES et al. on Menegazzia in New Guinea; JØRGENSEN on Pannariaceae in Australia and KALB in the modestly entitled `New or otherwise interesting lichens I' where, inter alia, the new genus Phyllopeltula is introduced. It is particularly encouraging to see biogeography covered, as this is a field in which lichens can provide more information than non-lichenized fungi. The paper by LÜCKING & KALB is, as one might expect from two such experienced tropical lichenologists, particularly interesting since they deal with the foliicolous lichens of New Caledonia, an island known for the remarkable uniqueness of its flora. However, unlike the vascular plants, few of the foliicolous lichens proved to be endemic: on the contrary over 60% proved to be pantropical and the rest had strong affinities to continental floras, indicating a high level of long-distance dispersal ­ something that is rather unexpected for such a ecological niche.

In contrast and, perhaps, surprising given its current vogue, there are remarkably few papers that use molecular methods: KÄRNEFELT & THELL on delimitation of Tuckermannopsis based on both morphology and DNA sequences; LAGRECA & LUMBSCH on the position of the Candelariaceae using anatomical and molecular data. The latter paper concludes that the Candelariaceae are synonymous with the Lecanoraceae ­ a refreshing change to the usual conclusions of molecular studies where greater higher-level diversity is revealed. Other topics that are covered are floristics (ARUP et al. on the lichen flora of Slovenia), lichenicolous fungi (CALATAYUD & TRIEBEL on a new species of Stigmidium from Pleurosticta), morphology (HAMMER on the podetial morphogenesis in Thysanothecium scutellatum) and even biography (RALSTON on F.R.M. Wilson, a pioneer Australian lichenologist). As expected in such festschrifts (or should that be `festschriften'?) there is a clutch of new taxa named for the dedicatee, who will now be remembered by a species of Cladonia, Phaeographina, Placopsis, Ramonia, Strigula and Physcia (as `jackii'), in addition to those taxa that have been named after him already. Finally, should there be any lingering doubt as to Jack Elix's contribution, there is a complete list of his publications to date (MCCARTHY et al.). I'm sure that there will be many more and that Elix must have been proud to have received such a tribute from his friends and colleagues.

J.C. David

Bibliography of Systematic Mycology vol. 7