The Lichens and Lichenicolous Fungi of Belgium and Luxembourg ...

32 P. DIEDERICH & E. SÉRUSIAUX
The beginning of the XXth century can claim acquaintance only with the French lichenologist
M. Bouly de Lesdain (1869-1965), most of whose collections were unfortunately
destroyed during the bombing of Dunkerque in 1940. As far as our study area is
concerned, Bouly de Lesdain mainly worked near Dunkerque (France, dept. Nord) from
where he described many taxa new to science (lichens and lichenicolous fungi). In
Belgium, he notably collected near Spa. In northern France, another prominent
lichenologist, Father J. Harmand (1844-1915) published a ‘Catalogue descriptif des
lichens observés dans la Lorraine’ (Harmand 1894). This flora mainly concerns the
southern part of the Lorraine, an area not studied in the present checklist.
Towards the end of the thirties, P. Duvigneaud (1913-91) started his studies, particularly
with the publication of his ‘Catalogue des Lichens de Belgique’, written in collaboration
with L. Giltay (Duvigneaud & Giltay 1938) (Fig. 19). Just like the ‘Prodrome’ of De Wildeman,
this catalogue is an invaluable reference, though it is a mere uncritical compilation
of data extracted from literature and devoid of any chorological or ecological information.
Between 1937 and 1952, P. Duvigneaud published many notes on Belgian lichens, especially
a fascinating review of epiphytic cryptogamic communities (Duvigneaud 1942).
Fig. 19. Excerpt from the ‘Catalogue
des Lichens de Belgique’ by
Duvigneaud & Giltay (1938: 19).
Extrait du ‘Catalogue des Lichens
de Belgique’ par Duvigneaud &
Giltay (1938: 19).
Passage uit de ‘Catalogue des Lichens
de Belgique’ van Duvigneaud
& Giltay (1938: 19).
Early in the sixties, several botanists at the University of Liège started research on
Belgian lichens, particularly with detailed studies on the use of lichen acids in taxonomy.
The publications of J. Lambinon clearly dominate that period; they are to culminate with
his brilliant synthesis ‘Les Lichens’ (Lambinon 1969). This work includes thorough
identification keys to the macrolichens of Belgium and Luxembourg. They still represent
a key reference on that matter nowadays, and no doubt they stimulated many botanists
to study those cryptogams, kept away from the main stream of interests of botanists in
Belgium and Luxembourg for such a long time.
During the fifties and the sixties, German lichenologist T. Müller (1894-1969) was mainly
interested in the ‘Eifel’ but extended his area of research into Belgium, especially into an
area near Malmédy about which he published a short but very interesting note (Müller
1958). He eventually published a synthesis of his work (Müller 1965) which is also an