Flora of New Zealand Series

≡Calicium claviculare * pusillum Ach., K. Sv. Vet.-Akad. Handl. 1808: 279 (1808).

=Calicium subnigricans Js.Murray, Trans. Roy. Soc. N. Z. 88: 181 (1860).

Calicium subnigricans. Holotype: New Zealand. Southland, Forest Hill, on dead Griselinia, v.1954. J. Murray 0265b – OTA.

Description : On lignum and bark. Parasitic or parasymbiontic on lichens or on free-living algae. Apothecia 0.7–1.0 mm tall. Capitulum black, lenticular, 0.15–0.28 mm diam. Stalk usually pale greenish, brownish or grey below, darkening gradually towards capitulum, shining, 0.04–0.08 mm diam., of irregularly interwoven hyphae, 3–4 μm diam., periclinal in upper parts, elsewhere very irregularly arranged; easily squashed in water, swelling strongly in K. Epithecium thin, greenish brown to brown. Hypothecium 85–110 μm thick, greenish to brownish or pale. Exciple fairly well developed, of irregularly interwoven hyphae, greenish or brown, 8–14 μm thick, covering lower part of capitulum. Asci 29–36 × 2.7–3.8 μm, cylindrical, apex distinct, penetrated by a narrow canal. Ascospores uniseriate, periclinally or irregularly arranged in asci, medium-brown, ellipsoidal, smooth, 1-septate, 6–7 × 2.2–2.7 μm; septum thin.

N: Northland (Te Paki Bush) to Wellington (Tararua Ra.) S: Nelson (Cobb Valley) to Southland (Pourakino Valley). On lignum (rarely on bark) of a variety of trees (Agathis australis, Beilschmiedia tawa, Dacrydium cupressinum, Griselinia littoralis, Leptospermum scoparium, Podocarpus totara) and occasionally on decaying Nothofagus, 150–1150 m. Widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, Australia and Central and South America (Tibell 1987, 1996b, 1998, 1999c; McCarthy 2003c, 2006; Nimis & Martellos 2003; Tibell & Thor 2003; Hermansson & Pystina 2004; Tibell & Ryan 2004h; Titov et al. 2004).

Cosmopolitan

Exsiccati : Tibell (1982: No. 63).

Illustrations : Tibell (1987: 144, fig. 106; 1999c: 87).

Chaenothecopsis pusilla is characterised by: its 1-septate, smooth spores, the thin and poorly pigmented septum, the greenish or brownish stalk, the frequently pale colour of the lower part of the stalk, and the negative reaction with K and H.