Flora of New Zealand Series

Type : Conotremopsis weberiana Vězda

Description : Thallus effuse, filamentous, woolly, byssoid. Photobiont green, Trentepohlia. Ascomata apothecia, cupulate, closed at first, at length opening, the margins splitting and appearing dentate or stellate, exposing the grey-black disc. Hymenium colourless, I+ blue, 500–600 μm tall. Hypothecium colourless. Paraphyses simple, unbranched. Asci cylindrical, thin-walled, with a distinct apical tholus, 8-spored. Ascospores hyaline, elongate, filiform-acicular, transversely multi-septate, halonate.

Conotremopsis is a monospecific genus included in the family Stictidaceae (Eriksson et al. 2004; Pennycook & Galloway 2004; Eriksson 2005), originally described from Nothofagus forest in Tasmania (Vězda 1977). The structure of the apothecium suggests a close affinity to both Conotrema Tuck and Ramonia Stizenb. and Vězda (1977: 316) presents a table outlining differences between these three genera. Kantvilas & Jarman (1999: 61) note "In Tasmania, it is locally common in high altitude rainforests, especially in the Cradle Mountain – Great Western Tiers region, where it forms conspicuous pinkish to orange-green, fluffy, circular thalli on the dryish sides of trees". It is known from beech forest in New Zealand, though it is still very poorly collected and understood here.