Parmelia protosulcata
Description : Thallus orbicular, adnate to loosely adnate, 2–6 cm diam. Lobes irregular, contiguous for the most part, but sublinear and discrete towards apices, narrow 1–2(–3) mm wide. Upper surface pale-greenish to brownish, mineral-grey (becoming yellow-grey on storage), ±plane, rarely weakly faveolate, becoming faintly white-pruinose at apices, the older lobes fissured and developing a reticulate network of cracks. Pseudocyphellae effigurate, small, rather sparse, mostly towards lobe apices or at margins, usually elongate. Soralia developing at lobe apices or margins, orbicular at first but later fusing and becoming linear–confluent with age; soredia coarse, granular. Lower surface black, shining, moderately to densely rhizinate. Rhizines simple to densely dichotomously and squarrosely branched, 0.5–1 mm long. Apothecia rare, subpedicellate, 4–5 mm diam., exciple wrinkled, pseudocyphellate. Ascospores 11–13 × 7–9 μm. Pycnidia not seen.
Chemistry : Cortex K+ yellow; medulla K+ yellow-brown, C−, KC+ brown, Pd+ orange-red; containing atranorin, chloroatranorin, protocetraric acid (major), ±lobaric acid and rarely, fumarprocetraric acid.
S: Canterbury (Nina Valley near Lewis Pass) to Southland (Fiordland), both E and W of the Main Divide. St: (Ulva) C: On trees and shrubs.Also known from southern South America, SE Australia and the Falkland Is (Hale 1987: 182; Galloway & Elix 1984; Elix 1994m; McCarthy 2003c, 2006).
Austral
Illustrations : Galloway & Elix (1984: 441, fig. 1); Hale (1987: 7, fig. 5B; 33, fig. 19D); Elix (1994m: 117, fig. 50C).
Parmelia protosulcata is characterised by: the corticolous habit; the narrow lobes (1–3 mm wide); laminal soralia; large fissured pseudocyphellae; densely squarrosely branched rhizines; and protocetraric acid in the medulla. It is related to P. cunninghamii but this latter species has broader lobes, linear soralia, and salazinic acid in the medulla.
