Flora of New Zealand Series

Description : Thallus foliicolous, subcuticular, effigurate, rounded to irregular, sometimes ±stellate, 5–15(–25) mm diam., of ±linear to somewhat irregular lobes, confluent to distinct or widely separated and discrete; broad and not very long to very long and thin, ±pinnate to irregularly branched, 0.1–0.2(–0.25) mm wide, plane or subconvex, smooth to delicately wrinkled, grey or greenish grey to green, glossy lobe margins bordered with numerous small papillae (0.02–0.03 mm diam.); 20–40(–50) μm thick, prothallus absent. Photobiont Cephaleuros, cells rounded, oblong or irregular, 5–16 × 5–9 μm, rather irregularly distributed in thallus, not in one simple layer. Perithecia 0.4–0.7(–0.8) mm diam., 150–300 μm tall, concolorous with thallus to pale- or dark-brown, walls pale or colourless. Involucrellum absent. Exciple pale- to dark-brown, 10–20 μm thick, covered by a thalline layer 20–30 μm thick almost to ostiole. Centrum applanate, 200–450 × 100–125 μm. Paraphyses simple, 1.5–2 μm thick. Periphyses indistinct. Asci cylindrical, 70–100 × 7–10 μm, thin-walled. Ascospores uniseriate or biseriate, 1-septate (rarely 3-septate), ±fusiform, apices subacute, often constricted at septum, (12–)15–22 × 4–6 μm. Pycnidia scattered, of two kinds: (1) producing macroconidia; 0.1 mm diam., immersed, forming subconvex protuberances, ostiole visible as dark point; wall thin, dark-brown. Conidiophores simple. Macroconidia 1-septate, bacillar, 9–12 × 3 μm; (2) producing microconidia, similar to above type but smaller, 0.05–0.1 mm diam. Microconidia simple, fusiform, 3–4 × 1.5 μm.

N: Northland (Church Road Scenic Reserve near Kaitaia). On leaves of Beilschmiedia tawa, first collected in New Zealand on 8.iv.1982 by the late John Bartlett (Sérusiaux 1998a: 152).

One of the most common of pantropical foliicolous species. Known also from the Caribbean, Central and South America, West and East Africa, South Africa, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Malaysia, Cocos Is, New Caledonia, and Australia (Santesson 1952; Lücking 1992; Farkas & Sipman 1997; Vězda et al. 1997; Elix & McCarthy 1998; Lücking & Kalb 2001; Aptroot 2003a; McCarthy 2003c, 2006; Farkas 2004).

Pantropical

Illustrations : Santesson (1952: 150, fig. 16; 151, fig. 17); Lücking (1992: 42, fig. 9A; 46, fig. 11H; 1995a: 69, fig. 3E).

Strigula nemathora is characterised by: the foliicolous habit; the pale greenish grey thallus, often with small, white papillae; pale perithecia with pale or colourless perithecial walls; 1-septate ascospores (12–)15–22 × 4–6 μm.