Annotated Nomenclatural Update to Keck (1961)

Darwin Keck’s pioneering work was one of the first detailed accounts of the lichen biota of a region in the Great Plains. This area of Oklahoma is especially interesting, since it includes several important ecoregions, including both cross timbers and Osage Plains/Flint Hills tallgrass prairie. The eastern portions of the study area have strong Ozarkian biogeographic influence. Keck’s work is important from a biogeographic perspective, since it elucidates details regarding the western ranges of several species traditionally thought to be associated with eastern woodlands, while simultaneously documenting the presence of several lichen taxa more commonly associated with western and southwestern North America.