Flora of New Zealand Series

Primary squamules very small to moderately large, to 3 mm long and 1 mm wide, persistent or disappearing, upper surface greyish, lower surface white. Podetia 10-80 mm tall, filiform, 0.3-0.5(-0.9) mm diam., greenish-grey to brown towards tips, dying base becoming brownish-grey to black, unbranched or rarely dichotomously branching, branching more abundant if tips damaged, apices subulate, rarely with cups, cups 0-2(-4) per podetium, 0.5-1(-2) mm wide, regular to irregular, occasionally laterally flattened, relatively deep, with dentate (often 7-8 teeth) margins. Cortex areolate, areolate usually slightly elevated, alternating with rather wide, white or brown medullary patches and lines, and with a greyish tomentum on younger and shaded parts. Central canal often extremely narrow, absent from thinnest podetia, when present, surface minutely fibrillose-striate, some old podetia long-hairy internally. Apothecia 1-3 mm wide, pale to dark brown. Chemistry: Cortex K-, KC-, Pd+ red. Fumarprotocetraric and protocetraric acid.

N: S: St: Throughout, s.l. to 2000 m, on soil, in grassland, Leptospermum heath, on peat, rotting logs, tussock bases and subalpine scrub.

Australasian

The subspecies and its relationship to C. gracilis subsp. gracilis is discussed by Ahti [ Annls bot. fenn. 17: 210 (1980)].