Lecanora anakeestiicola (Lecanorales): an unusual new fruticose species from Great Smoky Mountains National Park in eastern North America

The sterile asexually reproducing lichen Lecanora anakeestiicola is described as new to science from the southern Appalachian Mountains. This species is known from two populations that occur on shaded outcrops of the Anakeesta Formation at high elevations. It can be recognized by its dimorphic thallus with flaccid, ecorticate pseudopodetia and by the production of usnic acid in addition to zeorin. It is similar to Lecanora phryganitis, a narrow endemic of the Pacific Coast, which differs in the production of xanthones and in having tangled pseudopodetia that are stiff and hard due to the presence of a well developed cortex. It is also superficially similar to Leprocaulon americanum and L. quisquiliare, which are allopatric species that differ in having erect pseudopodetia with a stiff central cord.