AbstractColumn and thin layer chromatography revealed the presence of the following carotenoids in the thalli of 6 lichen species from Yunnan, China: β‐carotene, ϵ‐carotene, anhydroeschscholtzxanthin, β‐cryptoxanthin, lutein, zeaxanthin, isozeaxanthin; helenien, rubixanthin‐5,6‐epoxide, lutein epoxide, antheraxanthin, cryptoxanthin‐5,6,5′,6′‐diepoxide, echinenone, 3′‐hydroxyechinenone, canthaxanthin, celaxanthin, citranaxanthin, astaxanthin, auroxanthin, mutatoxanthin, mutatochrome, violaxanthin, neoxanthin, heteroxanthin, aphanizophyll, capsochrome, β‐apo‐10′‐carotenal and bixin.The total content of carotenoids ranged from 19.35 inRamalina conduplicansto 62.24