Two New Records for China of the Lichen Genera Anamylopsora and Lepraria

Xinjiang, also known as Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), with an area of over 1.6 million km² (0.64 million square miles), is the biggest province in China. Xinjiang is notable for its diversity and abundance of lichens. This study reports two lichen taxa newly recorded for China from the Barluk Mountain National Nature Reserve (BMNNR), Xinjiang, China, and provides morphological, anatomical, chemical, and Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) based molecular data. The lichen specimens used in this article were collected from (BMNNR) between 2022 and 2024. Two lichen species, Anamylopsora pakistanica and Lepraria rigidula, were discovered during a taxonomical study of the lichens from (BMNNR), Xinjiang, China. Both of these lichen species have never been reported from China before. Here, these are the new records for China. Anamylopsora pakistanica grows on well-lit bare rock surface, and is characterized by its having larger squamules, the margin of squamules is white; Lepraria rigidula grows on mosses attached to rocks, and is characterized by its dense long soredium and has atranorin. Descriptions in detail, comments with similar species, and morphological photographs of these two species are provided. The specimens of these two new records were deposited in the Herbarium of College of Life Sciences and Technology, Xinjiang University (XJU) (XUAR), China. These collections recommend a great potential for discovery of further unreported lichen species in Xinjiang Province.