Nayaka and Upreti (2013) enumerated a total of 135 lichen species from Uttar Pradesh. The lichen exploration in the state continued especially in Tarai region and Chambal Ravines which added several more lichens to the state. The studies which reported new additions to Uttar Pradesh include, Gupta & Sinha (2015, 2016, 2017), Gupta et al. (2016), Gupta (2018), Mishra et al. (2020), Kumar et al. (2021), and Gupta et al. (2023).
At present the Uttar Pradesh is represented by 187 taxa under 185 species, two varieties, 75 genera and 36 families. The crustose lichens dominate the lichen flora of the sate with 140 species including three leprose forms. The foliose lichens are represented by 25 species, followed by 22 species of squamulose form. The fruticose lichens are completely absent in the state. The hot and humid conditions of Uttar Pradesh state is not suitable for the growth of fruticose lichens. The lichens in Uttar Pradesh prefer to grow on bark and 140 corticolous species recorded. A large number of lichens represented by 41 species found growing on rocky substrates. It can be noted that the saxicolous substrates included cement and lime plasters of old building and monuments. Dirinaria aegialita and Parmotrema praesorediosum are the only two species which grow both on bark and rock. Further, the state is also represented by four foliicolous lichens growing on evergreen leaves in Terai regions.
Among the 36 families, Caliciaceae and Graphidaceae are most common and prominent groups in Uttar Pradesh represented by 18 species. Lecanoraceae, Ramalinaceae, Teloschistaceae, Physciaceae and Verrucariaceae are other prominent families in the state represented by 16, 14, 13, 11 and 10 species respectively. Among the genera Lecanora is the most common genus with 15 species followed by Graphis with 14 species. Bacidia (9 spp.), Caloplaca (8 spp.), Endocarpon (7 spp.), Opegrapha (6 spp.), Peltula (7 spp.), and Pyrenula (6 spp.) are the other prominent genera in Uttar Pradesh. The mango trees in Uttar Pradesh are the most common host favoured by lichens Pyxine cocoes, species of Dirinaria and Bacidia. The forests in Terai regions such as Dudhwa, Katarniaghat, Kishenpur and Suhelwa host luxuriant growth of pyrenocapous and graphidaceous lichens. Similarly, the Shorea vegetation in south of Uttar Pradesh (Sonbhadra) host luxuriant growth of Dirinaria and Pyxine species rarely accompanied by parmelioid lihcens. The urban areas, especially city centre such as Lucknow and Kanpur having old building and monuments host luxuriant growth of Endocarpon and Phylliscum species. Whereas the rocky areas towards Mirzapur, Prayagraj and Varanasi host different species of Peltula.
It can be note that the representative collection of lichens available for all the 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh. However, intensive studies in ecologically interesting regions such as Terai belt and Vindhyanchal range continue to yield interesting species of lichens.
