Flora of New Zealand Series

≡Lecidea sublapicida C.Knight, Trans. N. Z. Inst. 8: 316 (1876).

Lectotype: New Zealand. Sine loco [probably Wellington], Charles Knight – W 1203 [fide Knoph (1990: 151)]. Isolectotype – BM 1621.

Description : Flora (1985: 239 – as Lecidea sublapicida). See also Hertel (1983: 444–445), and Rambold (1989: 116–117).

Chemistry : Thallus C+ yellow-orange; two chemodemes present: (1) containing arthothelin, thuringione and ±atranorin, and (2) containing isoarthothelin, capistratone and vicanicin (Knoph & Leuckert 1997).

N: S. Otago (Mihiwaka): St: Throughout in fellfield, screes and rockslides, mainly alpine or subalpine on pebbles and stones. Associating with Lecanora farinacea. Known also from Australia, Chile, South Orkney and South Shetland Is (Knoph et al. 1995a: 52, fig. 13; Øvstedal & Lewis Smith 2001; McCarthy 2003c, 2006).

Austral

Illustration : Malcolm & Galloway (1997: 125).

Lecidella sublapicidia is characterised by: the saxicolous habit; the thin to evanescent, granular to somewhat crumbly, dirty creamish to yellow-grey thallus; the numerous, scattered to crowded, solitary to confluent, black, convex, marginate, epruinose apothecia, 0.2–0.8 mm diam.; the olive-brown to green-blue epithecium; the pale-brown to colourless hypothecium; the wide inner unpigmented part of the exciple inspersed with fine cystals (polarised light) and appearing yellow-grey or pale-brown; oval–ellipsoidal ascospores, 11.5–14 × 5–7 μm; and a C+ yellow-orange medullary reaction.