<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The presence of carotenoids in 10 species of the lichens of the <jats:italic>Cladonia</jats:italic> genus from Mecklenburg was studied. The investigations revealed the presence of the following carotenoids: bisdehydrolycopene, β‐carotene, β‐cryptoxanthin, zeaxanthin, lutein, 3‐epilutein, lycopene‐5,6‐epoxide, β‐carotene epoxide, antheraxanthin, lutein epoxide, mutatoxanthin, violaxanthin, neoxanthin, α‐doradexanthin, β‐doradexanthin, astaxanthin and rhodoxanthin.<jats:p>The total carotenoid content of the material ranged from 19.1 to 36.0 μg g<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup> dry weight.