The holotype material of Lethariella sinensis Wei & Jiang is a mixture of two chemically distinct taxa, one containing psoromic acid, the other containing norstictic acid. The former is chosen as lectotype and, as a result, L. mieheana Obermayer becomes a synonym of L. sinensis. Additional Lethariella specimens from Tibet have also been subjected to TLC analysis, and the results are presented