Chaenotheca trichialis (Ach.) Th.Fr.
*Account prepared by Dr L. Tibell (Uppsala).
Calicium trichiale Ach. K. Vet. Acad. Handl. 1808: 283 (1808).
Thallus episubstratic, granular to squamulose, forming an extended crust or growing in patches; thallus when squamulose, often rather glossy, greenish-grey. Photobiont: Stichococcus. Apothecia middle-sized to long, 1.0-1.9 mm high, 12-28 times as high as width of stalk. Stalk 0.05-0.10 mm diam., with a faint, white pruina in upper part, or epruinose, shining, black. Capitulum obconical to lenticular, with a well-developed excipulum. Hyphae of excipulum ± periclinally arranged and only slightly thicker than hyphae of stalk. Excipulum 0.19-0.34 mm diam. Hypothecium obconical with convex upper surface. Lower side of excipulum usually with a faint, whitish pruina, but sometimes epruinose. Asci short-cylindrical or of irregular shape, with uni- or biseriate spores, 11-14 × 2.2-2.7 µm. Asci formed in chains. Ascospores spherical, 3.1-3.8 µm diam., smooth or with irregular, narrow cracks. Chemistry: Thallus K-, C-, KC-, Pd-. No secondary substances found.
N: South Auckland, Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, Wellington. S: Nelson, Canterbury, Otago, Southland. Rather common on bark and decorticated stumps, particularly of Nothofagus in rather humid and shaded situations, 10-950 m.
Cosmopolitan
C. trichialis is very widely distributed in Northern Boreal - Temperate Zones of the Northern Hemisphere.
