Blepharostoma trichophyllum was found to be a species collectiva formed by several strongly genetically different species. The taxonomic diversity in the group is the possible result of radiation in early stages; then, these taxa likely survived for a long time in similar environmental conditions, which resulted in stasis. Presently, the existing taxa are similar one to another and may be morphologically distinguished with difficulties. The most taxonomically valuable morphological characteristics include oil bodies and cells in the leaf segment features. The most diverse genotypes (the vast majority of which are treated here as distinct species) were found in amphi-Pacific Asia, which may reflect the evolutionary history of the genus or may be the consequence of more profound sampling in the macro-region in comparison with other parts of the Holarctic.

Tritomaria koreana is transferred to Lophozia based on molecular studies involving material from the type locality. Within Lophozia, the species belongs to the early diverging branch sister to other taxa of the genus and is so distinctly morphologically different from congeners that the morphological circumscription of the genus should be revised based on the ability to develop 1) deep, pink-colored unicellular polygonal gemmae, 2) very unequally bilobed leaves, 3) leaves shaped and inserted as in Tritomaria exsecta. There are 5 morphologically distant species of Lophozia, four of which were described within the last decade and belong to the branches sister to the main bulk of taxa of the genus. All of these early diverging taxa are distributed on the geographical fringes of the area for the genus, whereas the geographical centre of the genus is occupied by widely distributed, morphologically intergrading and genetically closely related taxa of questionable taxonomic rank belonging to the L. ventricosa complex and its closest allies.

Cyanobacteria are crucial components of biological soil crusts of polar landscapes and carry out many functions in subaerial environments. Simple untapered filamentous cyanobacteria are typically in the terrestrial biotopes. They appear to be a group with an abundance of cryptic taxa. We isolated 23 strains of cyanobacteria from the different habitats of the Arctic and temperate zone, from 10 locations in order to characterize their morphological and genotypic diversity. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted on the 16S and 16S–23S ITS rRNA gene regions using Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood. A morphological comparison of the isolated strains with similar known species, as well as its phylogenetic analyses, revealed that they belong to three species of the genus Phormidesmis (P. nigrescens, P. pristley, and P. communis)—and to the previously unknown genus of Leptolyngbyaceae. Using an integrative approach, we provide here a description of a new taxon Apatinema gen. nov.