Flora of New Zealand Series

Type : Parmelia saxatilis (L.) Ach. [=Lichen saxatilis L.]

Description : Thallus foliose, lobate, distinctly dorsiventral, closely to loosely attached, 2–60 cm diam., rarely subascending, corticolous, terricolous or saxicolous. Lobes sublinear to subirregular 1–25 mm wide, rarely broad and rounded, margins entire to variously notched or incised, smooth, without projecting cilia. Upper surface grey to grey-green or brownish grey (atranorin and chloroatranorin), plane to faveolate, often distinctly maculate, isidiate, sorediate, or dactylate or without these structures, pseudocyphellate; pseudocyphellae effigurate or linear, never punctiform; upper cortex prosoplectenchymatous with a non-pored epicortex, cell walls containing isolichenan. Photobiont green Trebouxia. Medulla white. Lower surface black or brown, uniformly rhizinate to margins; rhizines simple, furcate or squarrosely branched, black. AscomataApothecia, laminal, pedicellate to sessile, 1–20 mm diam., disc often perforate or radially split with age, pale-brown to dark-brown; thalline exciple with, or without isidia, maculae or pseudocyphellae. Ascospores simple, subglobose to ellipsoidal, colourless, 8 per ascus, 3–18 × 6–33 μm. Conidiomata, pycnidia, present or absent, immersed, laminal or rarely marginal, punctiform. Conidia cylindrical or bacillar to bifusiform, 5–8 × 1 μm.

Taxonomic revisions in the family Parmeliaceae (Eriksson et al. 2004; Pennycook & Galloway 2004; Eriksson 2005) in recent years have considerably reduced the number of species included in Parmelia s. str., which now includes only taxa formerly placed in Parmelia subsect. Parmelia, and Parmelia subsect. Simplices (Hale & Kurokawa 1964). Species in Parmelia s. str. are characterised by: marginal or laminal pseudocyphellae arranged in patterns, often on the laminal ridges, or scattered and often most noticeable (×10 lens) at lobe margins, with salazinic acid as a common and often dominant medullary constituent (Hale 1987; Elix 1993a). Some 57 species are known worldwide (Hale 1987; Kurokawa & Lai 2001; Molina et al. 2004). Australian taxa are discussed by Elix (1994m) and Kantvilas et al. (2002), and Japanese taxa by Kurokawa (1994a, 1994b, 1994c, 1994d, 1994e); containing much information relevant to New Zealand species. Recent molecular studies show that in widely distributed cosmopolitan taxa, such as Parmelia saxatilis, there is large-scale genotypic variability within widespread lichen phenospecies, something "…which has implications for comparative ecological, physiological, and air pollution sensitivity studies as well as for lichen conservation." (Crespo et al. 2002: 788, 794; Molina et al. 2004).

The late Mason Hale (1928–1990), who over many years made comprehensive monographic studies in the Parmeliaceae (Culberson 1991; Nicolson 1991), visited New Zealand three times (December 1980, September 1981, and January–February 1984) primarily to study variation in the Parmelia testacea complex in the field, the results of which he later published in his monograph, which deals extensively with New Zealand taxa, after exhaustive studies of a wide range of material both in the field and in the herbarium (Hale 1987). On his return to Washington early in March 1984 he wrote "I spent 5 weeks in N.Z., a week in Christchurch going through the herbarium and 4 weeks driving 8000 km studying the Parmelia rudior group and collecting everything else in sight! It really is a rich lichen country but pretty cool and wet even in summer! "(Galloway 1993a: 345). Fifteen species are recognised in New Zealand (Galloway & Elix 1983, 1984; Galloway 1985a; Hale 1987; Elix & Johnston 1988a; Elix 1994m). Recently, Elix & Kantvilas (1995:65–66) described Parmelia tarkinensis Elix & Kantvilas, m Tasmania; a species having affinties with both P. cunninghamii and P. protosulcata, but differing chemically from both. It should be looked for in western areas of South I.