Nash, T.H., Ryan, B.D., Gries, C., Bungartz, F., (eds.) 2007. Lichen Flora of the Greater Sonoran Desert Region. Vol 3.

Life habit: lichenized Thallus: crustose, inconspicuous, forming a lumpy film upper surface: color of substrate, continuous, uneven, sometimes slightly shiny cortex: thin, cartilaginous, composed of densely arranged, parallel hyphae photobiont: primary one Trebouxia, secondary one absent; lower surface: absent Ascomata: apothecial, immersed to erumpent with zeorine margin disc: gray-brown to black, sometimes white pruinose, round to irregular in outline, plane proper margin: thin but usually distinct, same color as disc thalline margin: well-developed and prominent but often irregularly dissected, sometimes evanescent in old apothecia, white exciple: distinct, pigmented, prosoplectenchymatous hymenium: hyaline to brownish yellow, hymenial gel I-, K/I-; paraphyses: rather thin, branched and anastomosing; hypothecium: hyaline to yellow asci: clavate, annellasceous, with indistinct tholus and ring-shaped structure protruding down into the lumen, I-, K/I-, 2-8-spored ascospores: hyaline, submuriform to muriform, ellipsoid, thin-walled Conidiomata: hyphophoral, known from one species only, setiform but apically widened and spathulate conidia: unknown Secondary metabolites: no secondary metabolites detected with TLC Geography: possibly cosmopolitan Substrate: on soil and rock. Notes: Diploschistella was first established by Vainio (1926) for D. urceolata, a new genus and species morphologically and ecologically similar to Diploschistes but differing by its thin, inconspicuous thallus, anastomosing paraphyses, and hyaline, thin-walled ascospores. Vainio (1926) did not realize that his new species was conspecific with Lecidea athalloides Nyl. described 66 years earlier (Nylander 1860). More recently, Vězda (1972) erected the new genus Gyalideopsis and established that Lecidea athalloides belonged here, also overlooking that Diploschistella urceolata was conspecific with Lecidea athalloides and thus a name already available for his new genus. This fact was only established much later, and in the meantime Gyalideopsis had grown to include a large number of newly described species, and therefore Lumbsch and Hawksworth (1987) proposed the latter name for conservation over Diploschistella. In a recent phenotype-based phylogenetic analysis, Lücking et al. (2005) showed that several small groups previously included within Gyalideopsis fell outside this genus, among them Gyalideopsis athalloides and its relatives, characterized by growth on inorganic substrates, thin thallus, and immersed-erumpent apothecia with both proper margin and irregular thalline rim. The genus Diploschistella was therefore reinstated for this group (see also keys in Lücking et al. 2006). Unfortunately, it was overlooked that the epithet athalloides for the most common species antedates urceolata, and it was erroneously stated that Gyalideopsis athalloides is a synonym of Diploschistella urceolata. In order to correct this error, the new combination Diploschistella athalloides is introduced below.