Flora of New Zealand Series

Type : Peltula radicata Nyl.

Descriptions : Flora (1985: 366). See also Büdel (2001a: 24) and Büdel & Nash (2002).

Peltula is a cosmopolitan genus of c. 25 species included in the family Peltulaceae (Büdel 1987b, 2001a; Kirk et al. 2001; Eriksson et al. 2004; Pennycook & Galloway 2004; Eriksson 2005). The family Peltulaceae is a widespread and important group among lichens of arid and semi-arid biomes and especially in tropical–subtropical savannas, deserts and semi-deserts (Wetmore 1971; Swinscow & Krog 1979b; Büdel 1987a, 2001a, 2001b; Filson 1988; Egea 1989; Büdel & Nash 2002; Becker 2002). Species exhibit anatomical and physiological adaptations to these extreme, dry and exposed habitats (Büdel 1990; Büdel & Lange 1994). The procaryotic photobiont being sensitive to high light intensities is protected by three modifications of the outermost layer of the lichen thallus, viz: (1) by pigmentation of the outer gelatinous thallus layer; (2) by a pigmented epinecral layer combined with pigmented photobiont sheaths; (3) an epinecral layer with additional airspaces that reflect and disperse light. One species is recorded from New Zealand, but the genus has not been widely collected or studied here.