Cora aspera Wilk, Lücking & E. Morales, Phytotaxa 139 (1): 8 (2013)

Description.

For the characteristics of the species, see Lücking et al. (2013).

Habitat and distribution.

Cora aspera is known from several collections from Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru. According to Lücking et al. (2013), it appears to be a primarily epiphytic species, growing on twigs and branches of trees and shrubs in montane rain forest and paramo vegetation.

The species was recorded in Bolivia several times (Lücking et al. 2013; Flakus et al. 2014), however, only three records presented by Lücking et al. (2013), were confirmed by nuITS rDNA sequences. The unsequenced records presented by Flakus et al. (2014) may belong to other species.

Specimens examined.

Bolivia • Dept. Santa Cruz; Prov. Caballero, Siberia region near La Palma, 17°49'12"S, 64°40'28"W, elev. 2582 m, the Yungas cloud forest, on trunk among liverworts, 13 Dec. 2004, A. Flakus 4705 (KRAM L-49626; LPB) . • Prov. Manuel María Caballero, near Siberia, 17°50'38"S, 64°42'20"W, elev. 2644 m, grazed Yungas cloud forest with a large amount of bryophytes near road, 7 Nov. 2016, A. Flakus 28025 (KRAM; LPB) . • Monte Empalme near Siberia, 17°50'05"S, 64°42'09"W, elev. 2439 m, partly grazed Yungas cloud forest near stream, 8 Nov. 2016, P. Rodriguez 3579 (KRAM; LPB) . • Dept. Santa Cruz, Prov. Manuel María Caballero, East Cordillera, Siberia region near La Palma village, 17°49'12"S, 64°40'28"W, elev. 2582 m, Yungas cloud forest, 12 Dec. 2004, A. Flakus 4591 (KRAM; LPB) . • Prov. Franz Tamayo, PNANMI Madidi, below Keara Bajo, 14°41'47"S, 69°04'10"W, elev. 3160 m, open area with shrubs and scattered trees, 18 Nov. 2014, A. Flakus 25280 (KRAM; LPB) .

Notes.

Cora aspera is one of the several species growing typically as an epiphyte, and it is the largest and most common epiphytic species known in the genus. Together with C. boleslia Lücking, E. Morales & Dal-Forno, C. canari Nugra, Dal-Forno & Lücking, C. corani Lücking, E. Morales & Dal-Forno, C. dulcis Moncada, Pérez-Pérez & Lücking, C. fimbriata L. Vargas, Moncada & Lücking, and others, it makes up the C. aspera clade, which includes mostly epiphytic taxa with more or less green thallus when fresh, frequently forming medullary papillae and growing mostly in montane forest (Lücking et al. 2017).

All examined specimens were characterised by foliose thallus, up to 9 cm across (bigger than previously noted) composed of 2–5 semicircular lobes per thallus; lobes 2–5 cm wide and 1–5.5 cm long, often branched and with short radial branching sutures, pale greenish grey with slight concentric color zonation when fresh, and with thin but distinct, involute, white to pale grey margins, becoming white to grey when dried.