Contribución al género Graphis (Graphidaceae) en Colombia, con base en las colecciones del Herbario Forestal Gilberto Emilio Mahecha Vega (UDBC) sección criptógamas de la Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas

Abstract

Graphis is the type genus of the family Graphidaceae. It contains nearly 400 species and is considered the lichen genus with the highest number of species in the Neotropics, and the number of species described within the genus has grown steadily in the last 15 years. Based on the 2015 Catalogue of the Plants and Lichens of Colombia, 67 species of the genus are registered for Colombia, compared to 115 for Costa Rica. Since Colombia is twenty times larger than Costa Rica and has a broad arrey of ecosystems to harbor a diverse lichen biota, the number of species of Graphis is expected to be substantially higher that in Costa Rica. We studied collections of Graphis deposited in the herbarium of the District University in Bogotá (UDBC-Cryptogamic Section), which harbors about 700 specimens of this genus from different regions of Colombia, in order to obtain a first assessment of the true richness of Graphis in the country. As a result of this study, 67 new records of Graphis for the country are presented and 15 new species are described for science, increasing the total to 137 species known from Colombia. Additionally, the first key to species of the genus Graphis in Colombia was elaborated, as well as a rapid color guide following the models of the Field Museum, Chicago.