Flora of New Zealand Series

Type : Zahlbrucknerella calcarea (Herre) Herre [=Zahlbrucknera calcarea Herre]

Description : Flora (1985: 621).

Zahlbrucknerella, a genus of filamentous lichens in the family Lichinaceae (Erikssson et al. 2004; Pennycook & Galloway 2004), comprises eight species (Henssen 1963d, 1977, 2004) with an area of maximum diversity on the American continent. Four taxa appear to be confined to North or South America, and one species is endemic to South Africa. Two species are known from limestone habitats in New Zealand (Henssen 2004). Zahlbrucknerella is distinguished from the superficially similar Ephebe by differences in ascocarp development (Ephebe has pycnoascocarps – Zahlbrucknerella has apothecia derived from a hyphal web of generative tissue), and in the photobiont (Stigonema in Ephebe – Scytonema in Zahlbrucknerella). Both genera include polysporous taxa: in Ephebe there are 8 or 16 ascospores per ascus, in Zahlbrucknerella 24 ascospores are the general rule, with only one species having 8-spored asci.