Flora of New Zealand Series

P. saxicola (Knight) Müll. Arg., Bull. Soc. r. Bot. Belg. 31: 39 (1892).

Verrucaria saxicola Knight, T.N.Z.I. 8: 324 (1876).

Holotype: New Zealand. Sine loco (prob. Wellington). Charles Knight 1.9.75, WELT, Herb. Knight, Vol. 55A, p. 11!

Thallus olive-greenish to grey-brown or in parts oxydated rust-red, smooth, or in parts irregularly-cracked, matt or shining, ecorticate, prothallus absent, in irregular patches 1-4 cm diam. Perithecia scattered to frequent, solitary to 2 together, semi-immersed to sessile, hemispherical 0.05-0.2 mm diam., shining, black, often with a small central papilla. Involucrellum black, matt or shining, reaching to halfway down exciple, 86-100 µm thick. Paraphyses persistent, simple. Asci cylindrical-fusiform or narrowly clavate, thin-walled, 107-130 × 8-13 µm. Ascospores fusiform with pointed ends, (3-)5-7(-9)-septate, 73-86 × 8.1-13.5 µm.

N: Known only from the type collection.

Endemic