New GB & Ireland Lichen Flora - Due April 09

[Lancashire Lad]

Just a heads up on a forthcoming new edition GB Lichen Flora.

Title: - The Lichen Flora of Great Britain and Ireland - New Edition

Edited by OW Purvis, BJ Coppins, DL Hawksworth, PW James and DM Moore
710 pages, 44 line illustrations, 45 maps.

Price still to be announced.

"The first comprehensive, modern account for over 60 years of all the lichens occurring in the British Isles (some 1700 taxa, in 262 genera)."

Full descriptions of genera and species include distributional, chemical and ecological information.

Keys to all genera. Special keys to sterile lichens growing on bark and wood.

Full glossary and taxonomic index.

"Destined to become the standard work for the identification of lichens".

(Above information as currently available from British Lichens, The British Lichen Society, & NHBS Environment Bookstore).

Regards
Mike.

[AlanS]

We have been waiting for this for sometime - indeed the BLS rather firmly planned to have it out by the end of 2008.

However, there is no updated announcement on the BLS website as yet, so I don't know how accurate "April 09" will prove to be.

The first edition has been out of print for a while and, as it was published in 1992, it does seriously need revision. I am looking forward to see how it treats some of the more difficult groups, not least Lecanora and Caloplaca. From time to time, the BLS has had draft extracts on its site and, judging from these, even some of the more stable genera are going to have much improved treatments - evidently including references to approved illustrations (Dobson, Wirth, Brodo, Jahns, etc.), much as I have been attempting on my own website.

It will, however, still be quite a technical publication - necessary to keep one finger in the glossary while reading descriptions.
For rapid identification of the majority of species people are likely to have photographed, F.S.Dobson's 'Lichens - An Illustrated Guide to the British and Irish Species' (Richmond Publishing) will remain absolutely indispensible. Written using no more jargon than is necessary, photographs of most species, excellent introductory material, accurate and up to date, it is the book to have.
Currently it is on its 5th edition (2005), though I imagine that Frank Dobson is keeping the master manuscript up to date for when the 6th edition is needed.

Alan