Flora of New Zealand Series

Description : Primary thallus squamulose, squamules persistent or disappearing, 3–5(–12) mm long, brownish green above, chalky white (extra-New Zealand collections with grey veins below), becoming fibrillose but without soredia. Podetia proliferating from upper side of basal squamules, up to 5 cm tall, 0.5–1.5 mm diam., sparsely branched laterally, more rarely by marginally proliferating scyphi, subulate or scyphose. Cortex brown at base elsewhere whitish green, corticate or areolate-corticate, upper parts sometimes with scattered, large, rounded squamules, apices often slightly pruinose; podetial wall fragile, stereome thin, surface of central canal papillate. Scyphi to 3 mm diam., generally slightly deformed, proliferating scyphi often becoming laterally flattened and palmate. Apothecia brown to dark-brown, infrequent, developing at scyphal margins. Pycnidia common on tips of branches or margins of scyphi, dark-brown to black. Conidia falciform, 2–4 × 0.2–0.4 μm.

Chemistry : Cortex K+ yellow, C−, KC−, Pd+ red; containing atranorin, fumarprotocetraric and protocetraric acids and two unidentified compounds (Stenroos 1993: 323).

N: North Auckland to Wellington. S: Canterbury to Otago. On mosses and organic substrata. Known also from Tasmania and Macquarie I. (Filson & Archer 1986; Stenroos 1993; Hammer 2003b; McCarthy 2003c, 2006).

?Australasian

Illustrations : Filson & Archer (1986: 225, fig. 7 – as Cladonia ecmocyna); Stenroos (1993: 319, fig. 5F); Hammer (2003b: 413, figs 1–3).

Cladonia archeri is characterised by: the large basal squamules; the partly flattened, palmate podetia, slightly pruinose in apical parts; and cortical atranorin. It is distinguished from C. gracilis by the above characters, and from C. ecmocyna by its thinner, smoother cortex, narrower branches and podetia that appear to be either flattened or delicately inflated.