Abstract

Western Ghats abodes good number of lichens. But the areas have not yet been fully explored for the inventory of lichens. Survey of literature reveals that much of the work done in the Western Ghats are restricted to the hills of Tamil Nadu only. The other areas have scarcely been explored. Only a few representative collections have been made from the hills of other states. It has been estimated that there are about 2000 species of lichen occurring in India. A survey of recent literature has shown that in the Western Ghats 771 species of lichens are known to occur. Among these, 98 species of microlichens and 33 species of macrolichens are found endemic to this region. A review of the inventory work done so far is dealt with here with a note on distribution and endemism. A checklist of macro and microlichens occuring in the area is also given