Flora of New Zealand Series

S. damaecornis var. subcaperata Nyl., J. Linn. Soc. Lond. Bot. 9: 247 (1866).

S. variabilis var. lyalliana Müll. Arg., Bull. Soc. r. Bot. Belg. 31: 27 (1892).

Lectotype: New Zealand, Otago. Dunedin, trunks of trees, Nov. 5, 1861, W. Lauder Lindsay, H- NYL 33738!

S. variabilis var. lyalliana. Holotype: New Zealand. Sine loco. Charles Knight 1883, G 002180! Annotated "S. cinereoglauca Tayl." by Knight.

Thallus lobate, spreading, loosely to closely attached, 5-10-(12) cm diam., rarely to 20 cm and ± orbicular in well-developed specimens, corticolous. Lobes broad, 1-2 cm wide, undulate, subimbricate centrally, margins entire, sinuous, slightly incised. Upper surface bright green or olive-green, brownish or reddish-brown, coriaceous, smooth, matt, rather uneven in parts, without soredia or isidia, sometimes faintly white-maculate (×10 lens), margins suffused-brownish. Internal cephalodia visible as hemispherical swellings. Lower surface pale creamish or buff, margins white, glabrous, shining in a narrow zone, then ± uniformly short, pale, tomentose from margins to centre, tomentum variable, pale whitish, to buff or brown. Cyphellae conspicuous, large, 0.2-2 mm diam., ± circular, white, margins raised ± prominent, evenly scattered from centre to margins. Apothecia sessile or subpedicellate, scattered or crowded towards margins, rarely central, 0.8-4 mm diam., disc matt or glossy, smooth, bright yellow-orange, concave, obscured by margin at first then becoming plane to subconvex with age, margins thick, pale whitish or cream, crenulate, thalline exciple pale cream, areolate-verrucose. Ascospores fusiform, ellipsoid, 1-3-septate, (26-)32-46(-50) × 8-11 µm.

N: North Auckland to Wellington. S: Nelson to Southland. St: Throughout, coastal, lowland to subalpine, s.l. to 1200 m, on bark of trees and shrubs in moderate shade.

Australasian

S. subcaperata is characterised by coriaceous lobes with entire margins, conspicuous orange or orange-yellow apothecia and a pale lower surface. It is similar to Lobaria adscripta and in many habitats in lowland, eastern South I., the two species are sympatric. However, it is readily distinguished by the colour of the apothecia when fertile, and the presence of cyphellae below. It is distinguished from S. cinereoglauca by the green photobiont and by the position and colour of the apothecia (in S. cinereoglauca they are more numerous and submarginal and red-brown or reddish) and by the different texture. It appears to be the fertile, non-isidiate counterpart species of S. squamata.

Specimens of S. subcaperata were distributed by Lojka in his "Lichenotheca Universalis Fasc. III: No 116 (1886)" as S. sinuosa.