Flora of New Zealand Series

Holotype: New Zealand. Southland, Awarua Plain. On peaty soil in clearings amongst Leptospermum scoparium. W. Martin, January 1961, CHR 233956!

Primary squamules persistent or disappearing, 0.5-2 mm long, crenate-incised, margins ± lobulate, brown-yellow, smooth above, whitish arachnoid below. Podetia growing from margins and upper surface of primary squamules, 3 cm tall, 1-1.5 mm diam., at base, expanding upwards, subcylindrical, rather crowded, simple to irregularly dichotomously branched, with or without cups, cups regular, oblique or deformed, proliferating from margins, covered with a concave or funnel-shaped membrane. Cortex pale yellowish, brown-black at base, impellucid, decorticate, surface rather uneven, imperforate or with occasional perforations or ± areolate, areolae smooth, raised, soredia and squamules absent, chondroid layer smooth, not reticulate. Apothecia minute, terminal, pale brown, 0.2-1.0 mm diam., convex, simple or ± confluent, on marginal proliferations of cups. Pycnidia bottle-shaped, 0.1 mm diam., at tips of fertile podetia below apothecia and on surface of primary squamules, ostiole black-rimmed, gaping. Chemistry: Cortex K-, C-, KC+ yellow, Pd+ red. Usnic and fumarprotocetraric acids, barbatic acid (tr.) and unidentified terpene.

N: North Auckland (Awanui). S: Throughout, in alpine-subalpine habitats on peat soils, mainly east of Main Divide. St: (Also in Tasmania).

Australasian

Mainly an alpine - subalpine grassland species; in earlier accounts of Cladonia in New Zealand it was referred to C. boryi, but this species does not occur in New Zealand [Ahti, Annls bot. fenn. 10: 181 (1973)].