{{Short description|Genus of lichens}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}} {{Use Oxford spelling|date=September 2025}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Pertusaria albescens Maurepas.jpg | image_caption = ''Lepra albescens'' | taxon = Lepra | authority = Scop. (1777) | type_species = ''Lepra albescens'' | type_species_authority = (Huds.) Hafellner (2016) | synonyms_ref = <ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/> | synonyms = {{Collapsible list|bullets=on |''Variolaria'' {{au|Pers. (1791)}} |''Leproncus'' {{au|Ventenat (1799)}} |''Isidium'' {{au|(Ach.) Ach. (1803)}} |''Pertusaria'' sect. ''Lecanorastrum'' {{au|Müll.Arg. (1884)}} |''Pertusaria'' subg. ''Monomurata'' {{au|Archer (1993)}} |''Pertusaria'' sect. ''Digitatae'' {{au|Archer (1993)}} |''Marfloraea'' {{au|S.Y.Kondr., L.Lökös & Hur (2015)}} }} }}
'''''Lepra''''' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Pertusariaceae. Although the genus was created in 1777, it was not regularly used until it was resurrected in 2016 following molecular phylogenetic analyses. It has more than a hundred species, most of which were previously classified in genus ''Pertusaria''.
==Taxonomy==
The genus was originally circumscribed by the Austrian naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1777.<ref name="Scopoli 1777"/> Martyn Dibben designated ''Lichen albescens'' (=''Lepra albescens'') as a neotype for the genus in 1980.<ref name="Dibben 1980"/> In 2015, Kondratyuk and colleagues proposed the new genus ''Marfloraea'' to contain 13 members of the ''Variola'' group (one of four major clades identified in ''Pertusaria'' in the broad sense), with ''Marfloraea amara'' (=''Lepra amara'') selected as the type.<ref name="Kondratyuk et al. 2015"/> The proposed genus was rejected a year later when Josef Hafellner and Ayşen Türk explained that the new genus name was superfluous because older available names existed that should have instead been used.<ref name="Hafellner & Türk 2016"/> Consequently, the genus ''Lepra'' was reinstated to contain species formerly placed in the ''Pertusaria albescens'' species group.<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/>
Subsequent molecular studies have confirmed that the species now placed in ''Lepra'' form a well-supported, monophyletic lineage that is distinct from ''Pertusaria'' in the strict sense. For much of the twentieth century these lichens were often treated under ''Variolaria'' {{au|Pers. (1794)}}, but that name is a later homonym of ''Variolaria'' {{au|Bull. (1791)}}, which applies to a different taxon of uncertain disposition. A proposal was therefore put forward to conserve ''Variolaria'' {{au|Pers.}} against both ''Lepra'' and ''Variolaria'' {{au|Bull.}}, so that the traditional name ''Variolaria'' could continue to be used for this group. However, by the time the proposal was considered, ''Lepra'' had already been widely adopted in the recent literature, almost all required new combinations had been made, and several additional species had been described in the genus. The Nomenclature Committee for Fungi judged that reverting to ''Variolaria'' would be more disruptive than maintaining current usage of ''Lepra'', and voted against recommending conservation.<ref name="May & Lendemer 2023"/>
==Description==
Genus ''Lepra'' contains crustose lichens with the following features: disc-like ascomata; a hymenial gel that is weakly amyloid to non-amyloid; asci that are strongly amyloid but lack clear amyloid structures at their tips; and asci containing one or two single-layered, thin-walled ascospores.<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/>
==Species== thumb|right|''Lepra amara'' thumb|right|''Lepra commutata'' thumb|right|''Lepra excludens'' thumb|right|''Lepra trachythallina'' thumb|right|''Lepra waghornei'' {{As of|2025|September}}, Species Fungorum (in the Catalogue of Life) accepts 104 species of ''Lepra'':<ref name="Col-Species Fungorum"/> {{div col}} *''Lepra acroscyphoides'' {{au|(Sipman) I.Schmitt, B.P.Hodk. & Lumbsch (2017)}}<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/> *''Lepra albescens'' {{au|(Huds.) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra albopunctata'' {{au|(A.W.Archer & Elix) A.W.Archer & Elix (2018)}} *''Lepra alterimosa'' {{au|(Darb.) I.Schmitt, B.P.Hodk. & Lumbsch (2017)}}<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/> *''Lepra alticola'' {{au|(Q.Ren) Q.Ren (2019)}} *''Lepra amara'' {{au|(Ach.) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra amaroides'' {{au|(H.Magn.) I.Schmitt, B.P.Hodk. & Lumbsch (2017)}}<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/> *''Lepra andersoniae'' {{au|(Lendemer) Lendemer & R.C.Harris (2017)}} *''Lepra argentea'' {{au|Fryday (2019)}}<ref name="Fryday 2019"/> – Falkland Islands *''Lepra arida'' {{au|A.W.Archer & Elix (2020)}}<ref name="Archer & Elix 2020"/> – Australia *''Lepra asiana'' {{au|(Vain.) A.W.Archer & Elix (2018)}} *''Lepra aspergilla'' {{au|(Ach.) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra austropacifica'' {{au|I.Schmitt & Lumbsch (2017)}}<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/> *''Lepra bambusetorum'' {{au|(Zahlbr.) Q.Ren (2019)}} *''Lepra buloloensis'' {{au|(A.W.Archer, Elix & Streimann) I.Schmitt & Lumbsch (2017)}} *''Lepra caucasica'' {{au|(Erichsen) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra clarkeana'' {{au|(A.W.Archer) I.Schmitt, B.P.Hodk. & Lumbsch (2017)}}<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/> *''Lepra colorata'' {{au|(D.D.Awasthi & Preeti Srivast.) Q.Ren (2019)}} *''Lepra commutata'' {{au|(Müll.Arg.) Lendemer & R.C.Harris (2017)}} *''Lepra composita'' {{au|(Zahlbr.) Q.Ren (2019)}} *''Lepra corallina'' {{au|(L.) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra corallophora'' {{au|(Vain.) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra dactylina'' {{au|(Ach.) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra dactylinella'' {{au|(Kantvilas & Elix) A.W.Archer & Elix (2018)}} *''Lepra elatinica'' {{au|A.W.Archer & Elix (2020)}}<ref name="Archer & Elix 2020"/> – Australia *''Lepra erubescens'' {{au|(Hook.f. & Taylor) A.W.Archer & Elix (2018)}} *''Lepra erythrella'' {{au|(Müll.Arg.) I.Schmitt, B.G.Hodk. & Lumbsch (2017)}}<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/> *''Lepra excludens'' {{au|(Nyl.) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra flavovelata'' {{au|(Elix & Malcolm) I.Schmitt, B.G.Hodk. & Lumbsch (2017)}}<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/> *''Lepra floridana'' {{au|(Dibben) Lendemer & R.C.Harris (2017)}} *''Lepra gedehana'' {{au|(Zahlbr.) Sipman (2022)}} *''Lepra graeca'' {{au|(Erichsen) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra hengduanensis'' {{au|(Q.Ren) Q.Ren (2019)}} *''Lepra huangshanensis'' {{au|(Sen H.Yu & J.N.Wu ex Q.Ren) Q.Ren (2019)}} *''Lepra hypothamnolica'' {{au|(Dibben) Lendemer & R.C.Harris (2017)}} *''Lepra isidioides'' {{au|Delastre (1830)}} *''Lepra lacericans'' {{au|(A.W.Archer) A.W.Archer & Elix (2018)}} *''Lepra laceromarginata'' {{au|(Q.Ren) Q.Ren (2019)}} *''Lepra leeuwenii'' {{au|(Zahlbr.) A.W.Archer & Elix (2020)}}<ref name="Archer & Elix 2020"/> – Australia *''Lepra leonina'' {{au|(Stizenb.) I.Schmitt, B.G. Hodk. & Lumbsch (2017)}}<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/> *''Lepra leucopsara'' {{au|(Kremp.) Q.Ren (2019)}} *''Lepra leucosora'' {{au|(Nyl.) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra leucosorodes'' {{au|(Nyl.) I.Schmitt, B.G.Hodk. & Lumbsch (2017)}}<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/> *''Lepra lichexanthonorstictica'' {{au|Aptroot (2021)}}<ref name="Aptroot & Spielmann & Gumboski 2021"/> – Brazil *''Lepra lijiangensis'' {{au|(Q.Ren) Q.Ren (2019)}} *''Lepra macloviana'' {{au|(Müll.Arg.) I.Schmitt, B.G.Hodk. & Lumbsch (2017)}}<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/> *''Lepra mammosa'' {{au|(Harm.) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra melanochlora'' {{au|(DC.) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra miniatescens'' {{au|(A.W.Archer & Elix) A.W.Archer & Elix (2018)}} *''Lepra monogona'' {{au|(Nyl.) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra multipuncta'' {{au|(Turner) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra multipunctoides'' {{au|(Dibben) Lendemer & R.C.Harris (2017)}} *''Lepra muricata'' {{au|(J.C.David) A.W.Archer & Elix (2018)}} *''Lepra neotriconica'' {{au|(Elix & A.W.Archer) A.W.Archer & Elix (2018)}} *''Lepra novae-zelandiae'' {{au|(Szatala) I.Schmitt, A.W.Archer & Lumbsch (2017)}}<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/> *''Lepra ocellata'' {{au|(Körb.) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra ophthalmiza'' {{au|(Nyl.) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra ornatula'' {{au|(Müll.Arg.) I.Schmitt, B.P.Hodk. & Lumbsch (2017)}}<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/> *''Lepra panyrga'' {{au|(Ach.) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra parathalassica'' {{au|(Kantvilas & Elix) A.W.Archer & Elix (2018)}} *''Lepra perlacericans'' {{au|A.W.Archer & Elix (2020)}}<ref name="Archer & Elix 2020"/> – Australia *''Lepra pseudodactylina'' {{au|(A.W.Archer) A.W.Archer & Elix (2018)}} *''Lepra pseudolactea'' {{au|(Erichsen) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra pseudosubventosa'' {{au|Kukwa & B.Guzow-Krzem. (2019)}}<ref name="Guzow-Krzemińska et al. 2019"/> – Bolivia *''Lepra psoromica'' {{au|(A.W.Archer & Elix) A.W.Archer & Elix (2018)}} *''Lepra pulvinata'' {{au|(Erichsen) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra pustulata'' {{au|(Brodo & W.L.Culb.) Lendemer & R.C.Harris (2017)}} *''Lepra roseola'' {{au|(A.W.Archer & Elix) A.W.Archer & Elix (2018)}} *''Lepra rugifera'' {{au|(Müll.Arg.) I.Schmitt, B.P.Hodk. & Lumbsch (2017)}}<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/> *''Lepra scaberula'' {{au|(A.W.Archer) I.Schmitt, B.P.Hodk. & Lumbsch (2017)}}<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/> *''Lepra schaereri'' {{au|(Hafellner) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra scutellifera'' {{au|(A.W.Archer & Elix) I.Schmitt, B.P.Hodk. & Lumbsch (2017)}}<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/> *''Lepra setschwanica'' {{au|(Zahlbr.) Q.Ren (2019)}} *''Lepra slesvicensis'' {{au|(Erichsen) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra sordida'' {{au|(A.W.Archer) A.W.Archer & Elix (2018)}} *''Lepra sphaerophora'' {{au|(Oshio) I.Schmitt, B.P.Hodk. & Lumbsch (2017)}}<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/> *''Lepra stalactiza'' {{au|(Nyl.) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra subcomposita'' {{au|(Oshio) I.Schmitt, Hodk. & Lumbsch (2017)}}<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/> *''Lepra subdactylina'' {{au|(Nyl.) Lendemer & R.C. Harris (2017)}} *''Lepra sublacerans'' {{au|(A.W.Archer) A.W.Archer & Elix (2018)}} *''Lepra submultipuncta'' {{au|(Nyl.) Q.Ren (2019)}} *''Lepra subventosa'' {{au|(Malme) I.Schmitt & Lumbsch (2017)}} *''Lepra subvelata'' {{au|(G.Merr.) T.Sprib. (2020)}} *''Lepra superans'' {{au|(Müll.Arg.) I.Schmitt, B.P.Hodk. & Lumbsch (2017)}}<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/> *''Lepra taiwanensis'' {{au|Q.Ren (2022)}} *''Lepra teneriffensis'' {{au|(Vain.) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra thamnolica'' {{au|(A.W.Archer) A.W.Archer & Elix (2018)}} *''Lepra tibetensis'' {{au|(Z.S.Sun) Q.Ren (2019)}} *''Lepra trachythallina'' {{au|(Erichsen) Lendemer & R.C.Harris (2017)}} *''Lepra trichosa'' {{au|(Elix & A.W.Archer) A.W.Archer & Elix (2018)}} *''Lepra tropica'' {{au|(Vain.) Lendemer & R.C.Harris (2017)}} *''Lepra truncata'' {{au|(Kremp.) A.W.Archer & Elix (2018)}} *''Lepra tuberculata'' {{au|(Erichsen) Hafellner (2016)}} *''Lepra umbricola'' {{au|(A.W.Archer & Elix) A.W.Archer & Elix (2018)}} *''Lepra variolina'' {{au|(Nyl.) Q.Ren (2019)}} *''Lepra variolosa'' {{au|I.Schmitt, A.W.Archer & Lumbsch (2017)}}<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/> *''Lepra ventosa'' {{au|(Malme) Lendemer & R.C.Harris (2017)}} *''Lepra violacea'' {{au|(Oshio) I.Schmitt, B.P.Hodk. & Lumbsch (2017)}}<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/> *''Lepra waghornei'' {{au|(Hulting) Lendemer & R.C.Harris (2017)}} *''Lepra wallamanensis'' {{au|(Elix & A.W.Archer) A.W.Archer & Elix (2018)}} *''Lepra wangii'' {{au|(Q.Ren) Q.Ren (2019)}} *''Lepra wawreana'' {{au|(A.Massal.) I.Schmitt, B.P.Hodk. & Lumbsch (2017)}}<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/> *''Lepra weii'' {{au|(Q.Ren) Q.Ren (2019)}} *''Lepra wulingensis'' {{au|(Z.T.Zhao & Z.S.Sun) Q.Ren (2019)}} *''Lepra xantholeuca'' {{au|(Müll.Arg.) I.Schmitt, A.W.Archer & Lumbsch (2017)}}<ref name="Wei et al. 2017"/> *''Lepra yunlingensis'' {{au|Q.Ren (2022)}} {{div col end}}
==References== {{Reflist|colwidth=30em|refs=
<ref name="Aptroot & Spielmann & Gumboski 2021">{{cite journal |last1=Aptroot |first1=A. |last2=Spielmann |first2=A.A. |last3=Gumboski |first3=E.L.|year=2021 |title=New lichen species and records from Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil |journal=Archive for Lichenology |volume=23 |pages=1–18 |url=http://www.fschumm.de/Archive/Vol%2023_Aptroot_%20Santa%20Catarina.pdf}}</ref>
<ref name="Archer & Elix 2020">{{cite journal |last1=Archer |first1=A.W. |last2=Elix |first2=J.A. |year=2020 |title=Six new species, a new variety, a new report and two new records in the Australian Pertusariaceae (Pertusariales, lichenized Ascomycota) |journal=Australasian Lichenology |volume=86 |pages=14–29 |url=http://nhm2.uio.no/botanisk/lav/RLL/AL/AL86.pdf}}</ref>
<ref name="Col-Species Fungorum">{{cite web |author=Source dataset. Species Fungorum Plus: Species Fungorum for CoL+ |title=''Lepra'' |url=https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/5CPK |work=Catalog of Life Version 2021-12-18 |access-date=16 January 2022}}</ref>
<ref name="Dibben 1980">{{cite book |last1=Dibben |first1=Martyn J. |year=1980 |title=The Chemosystematics of the Lichen Genus ''Pertusaria'' in North America North of Mexico |series=Publications in Biology and Geology |volume=5 |location=Milwaukee |publisher=Milwaukee Public Museum |isbn=978-0-89326-036-1}}</ref>
<ref name="Guzow-Krzemińska et al. 2019">{{cite journal |last1=Guzow-Krzemińska |first1=B. |last2=Flakus |first2=A. |last3=Kosecka |first3=M. |last4=Jabłońska |first4=A. |last5=Rodriguez-Flakus |first5=P. |last6=Kukwa |first6=M. |year=2019 |title=New species and records of lichens from Bolivia |journal=Phytotaxa |volume=397 |issue=4 |pages=257–279 |doi=10.11646/phytotaxa.397.4.1 |bibcode=2019Phytx.397..257G |doi-access=free}}</ref>
<ref name="Fryday 2019">{{cite journal |last1=Fryday |first1=A.M. |year=2019 |title=Eleven new species of crustose lichenized fungi from the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) |journal=The Lichenologist |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=235–267 |doi=10.1017/S0024282919000185 |bibcode=2019ThLic..51..235F}}</ref>
<ref name="Hafellner & Türk 2016">{{cite journal |last1=Hafellner |first1=J. |last2=Türk |first2=R. |year=2016 |title=Die lichenisierten Pilze Österreichs –Eine neue Checkliste der bisher nachgewiesenen Taxa mit Angaben zu Verbreitung und Substratökologie |journal=Stapfia |volume=104 |issue=1 |pages=1–216 |url=https://www.zobodat.at/pdf/STAPFIA_0104_1_0001‐0216.pdf}}</ref>
<ref name="Kondratyuk et al. 2015">{{cite journal |last1=Kondratyuk |first1=Sergii Y. |last2=Lőkös |first2=László |last3=Kim |first3=Jung A. |last4=Kondratiuk |first4=Anna S. |last5=Jeong |first5=Min-Hye |last6=Jang |first6=Seol Hwa |last7=Oh |first7=Soon-Ok |last8=Hur |first8=Jae-Seoun |title=New members of the Pertusariales (Ascomycota) proved by combined phylogenetic analysis |journal=Studia Botanica Hungarica |volume=46 |issue=2 |year=2015 |doi=10.17110/studbot.2015.46.2.95 |pages=95–110 |url=http://real.mtak.hu/31053/1/StudiaBotHung_2015_Vol_46_2_95.pdf }}</ref>
<ref name="May & Lendemer 2023">{{cite journal |last1=May |first1=Tom C. |last2=Lendemer |first2=James C. |year=2023 |title=Report of the Nomenclature Committee for Fungi: 22 |journal=Taxon |volume=72 |issue=6 |pages=1356–1363 |doi=10.1002/tax.13099 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
<ref name="Scopoli 1777">{{cite book |last1=Scopoli |first1=Gioanni Antonio |year=1777 |title=Introductio ad historiam naturalem sistens genera lapidum, plantarum, et animalium: hactenus detecta, caracteribus essentialibus donata, in tribus divisa, subinde ad leges naturae |page=61 |location=Prague |publisher=Apud Wolfgangum Gerle |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/11269057 |language=la}}</ref>
<ref name="Wei et al. 2017">{{cite journal |last1=Wei |first1=X.L. |last2=Schmitt |first2=I. |last3=Hodkinson |first3=B.P. |last4=Flakus |first4=A. |last5=Kukwa |first5=M. |last6=Divakar |first6=P.K. |last7=Kirika |first7=P.M. |last8=Otte |first8=J. |last9=Meiser |first9=A. |last10=Lumbsch |first10=H.T. |year=2017 |title=Circumscription of the genus ''Lepra'', a recently resurrected genus to accommodate the "Variolaria"-group of ''Pertusaria'' sensu lato (Pertusariales, Ascomycota) |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=12 |issue=7 |article-number=e0180284 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0180284 |pmid=28700682 |pmc=5507398 |bibcode=2017PLoSO..1280284W |doi-access=free }}</ref>
}}
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Category:Pertusariales Category:Pertusariales genera Category:Lichen genera Category:Taxa described in 1777 Category:Taxa named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli