Flora of New Zealand Series

Type : Lichenomphalia hudsoniana (H.S.Jenn.) Redhead, Lutzoni, Moncalvo & Vilgalys [=Hygrophorus hudsoniana H.S.Jenn.]

Description : Flora (1985: 323–324 – as Omphalina).

Lichenomphalia is included in the Basidiomycete family Tricholomataceae (Pennycook & Galloway 2004), and comprises c. 50 species (Kirk et al. 2001), with the green algal genus Coccomyxa as photobiont (Zoller & Lutzoni 2003). Several species are present in New Zealand, with only two of them unambigiously identified. They are often common on exposed damp, clayey soil of farm tracks in subalpine to high-alpine grassland, where they apparently grow most rapidly in the winter months. The genus is widely known in the Northern Hemisphere (see Høiland 1987; Jørgensen 1989; Jørgensen & Ryman 1989a, 1989b; Norvell et al. 1994; Lutzoni & Vilgalys 1995a, 1995b; Lutzoni 1997; Lutzoni & Pagel 1997; Barrasa & Esteve-Raventós 2000; Moncalvo et al. 2000; Barrasa & Rico 2001; Moreno et al. 2001; Redhead et al. 2002; Zoller & Lutzoni 2003).