<p>  The genetic identity of the mycobionts of the photosymbiodemes Sticta wrightii (chloromorph) and Dendriscocaulon sp. (cyanomorph) collected from Yunnan, China were compared and morphological descriptions provided. The relationships of Dendriscocaulon with the closely related genera Lobaria, Sticta and Pseudocyphellaria have been clarified using phylogenetic analysis based on the sequence of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of the nuclear rDNA. The ITS rDNA phylogenies suggest that the mycobionts of Dendriscocaulon sp. and S. wrightii belong to a single species. The ITS regions of the S. wrightii and Dendriscocaulon sp. have highly variable sites between sequences. The sequences of S. wrightii and Dendriscocaulon sp. of the composite thallus have 100% homologies in the ITS1 and ITS2 regions. Furthermore, our investigation demonstrates the polyphyly of Sticta based on phylogenetic analysis and shows two distinct clades corresponding to S. wrightii and the Dendriscocaulon sister to Ricasolia s.1. group, and the other species of Sticta in the large Lobariaceae clade.</p>