Flora of New Zealand Series

Holotype: New Zealand. South I., Westland, Paparoa National Park, Punakaiki Creek, "in ripa rivi prope ostium in mare, ad folia palmarum", 24.ix.1997, W. Malcolm & A. Vězda – CHR. Isotypes – BM, CANB, DUKE, ESS, GZU, H, HO, M, PRM, TSB, UPS, VBI, Herb. K. Kalb, Herb. A. Vězda.

Description : Thallus thin, epiphyllous, pale yellowish grey, opaque. Photobiont cells rectangular, concatenate, radiating, forming a flat surface plate. Perithecia hemispherical to subglobose, pale yellow-brown, 0.2–0.3 mm diam., 0.2 mm tall, thinly surrounded by thalline tissue, at first slightly pubescent, at length glabrous. Exterior of wall pale-yellow, 30 μm thick, dimidiate, K+ reddish, internal wall colourless, closed, 15–20 μm thick. Paraphysoids not developed. Paraphyses 0.5 mm thick. Ascospores narrowly fusiform, 7-septate, 35–45 × 3 μm.

S: Known only from the type locality. Known also from South Africa (Farkas 2004).

?Palaeotropical

Illustrations : Vězda (1999b: 3, fig. 2).

Porina palmicola is characterised by: the foliicolous habit; pale yellowish grey thallus; subglobose, yellow-brown, subpubescent perithecia; and narrowly fusiform, 7-septate ascospores, 35–45 × 3 μm. It resembles P. epiphylla (Fée) Fée, but differs in the faintly pubescent perithecia.