Lichens in Australia The first published report of an Australian
lichen appeared in 1806 and since then numerous species have
been reported for Australia. Currently over 3000 species are
said to occur in Australia and a little over a third are not
known elsewhere. Amongst those 3000 plus there are still
undoubtedly some invalid records. Such invalid records can arise
from a variety of causes and the following paragraph will give
some examples. Specimens collected in Australia have been the
basis for the descriptions of many species. At times what has
later been shown to be the one species has been described as new
several times under a variety of names. Here is an example. In
1876 James Stirton of Glasgow described the new species Graphis
mucronata (photo below). In 1882 Jean Müller of Geneva described
four new species (Phaeographis australiensis, Phaeographis
cinerascens, Phaeographis inscripta, Phaeographis subcompulsa)
and in the same year Charles Knight of New Zealand described the
new species Graphis aul