Flora of New Zealand Series

Description : Thallus adnate to loosely adnate, greenish to pale-brownish mineral-grey, 6–10 cm diam. Lobes sublinear, contiguous, sometimes short and more crowded, 1–2.5 mm wide, brownish towards apices, sometimes white-pruinose. Upper surface dull, plane to weakly faveolate, continuous, becoming fissured with age, pseudocyphellate, isidiate, without soredia. Pseudocyphellae irregularly effigurate, 0.2–0.5 mm long, sparse and inconspicuous to ±well-developed, marginal and laminal. Isidia laminal, initially scattered, at maturity becoming clumped along faint ridges, cylindrical, rarely branched, 0.1–0.3 × 0.04–0.06 mm. Lower surface black, moderately rhizinate. Rhizines simple to furcate, rarely weakly squarrosely branched, 0.5–1.5 mm long. Apothecia rare, subpedicellate, 10–15 mm diam., plane, with a radially split disc at maturity. Hymenium 65–70 μm tall. Ascospores 14–18 × 9–12 μm; perispore 1–2 μm thick. Pycnidia not seen.

Chemistry : Cortex K+ yellow; medulla K− or + yellow-brown, C−, Pd+ red-orange; containing atranorin, protocetraric acid and lobaric acid.

S: C: On bark and rock. Still very poorly known and collected in New Zealand. Known also from the west coast of North America, South Africa (Cape Province), Kerguelen, Marion I. and Prince Edward I. (Hale 1987: 28; Øvstedal & Gremmen 2001).

Circum-Pacific

Illustrations : Hale (1987: 5, fig. 3E; 13, fig. 11C, E; 26, fig. 16F); McCune & Geiser (1997: 188 – as Parmelia pseudosulcata).

Parmelia kerguelensis is characterised by: laminal and marginal pseudocyphellae not in a reticulate pattern; scattered, cylindrical isidia; and a medulla containing protocetraric and lobaric acids (K−).