Flora of New Zealand Series

≡Gyrophora nylanderiana Zahlbr. Cat. lich. univ. 4 (4): 720 (1927). 

Description : Flora (1985: 592).

Chemistry : Gyrophoric (major), lecanoric, umbilicaric (minor) and hiascic (tr.) acids (Posner et al. 1992; Sipman & Topham 1992; Narui et al. 1996).

N: Wellington (Mt Ruapehu). S: Marlborough (Mt Tapae-o-uenuku, Crimea Ra.), Canterbury (Craigieburn Ra., Mt Torlesse, Banks Peninsula, Mt Hutt, Mt Cooper Murchison Valley, Mt Cook, Mt Peel, Kirkliston Ra.), Otago (Rees Valley, Cardrona, St Mary Ra., Mt Pisgah, Kakanui Mts, Dunstan Mts, Old Man Ra., Poolburn Reservoir, Rough Ridge, Lake Onslow, Rock & Pillar Ra., Maungatua). A commonly collected, brown-black to dark green-brown, fragile, rather thin-lobed species, often forming considerable swards, on flattish surfaces (tops of rocks and outcrops) in full sun, 680–2122 m. Often with U. polyphylla and species of Xanthoparmelia. Known also from Scotland, Europe, Scandinavia, Asia, Colombia, Bolivia, Chile, Australia and Antarctica (Frey 1936b; Llano 1950; Purvis et al. 1992; Sancho et al. 1992, 1999; Sipman & Topham 1992; Nimis 1993; Santesson 1993; Wei & Jiang 1993; Galloway & Quilhot 1999; Øvstedal & Lewis Smith 2001; McCarthy 2003c, 2006; Nimis & Martellos 2003; Hestmark 2004; Santesson et al. 2004; Søchting et al. 2004).

Bipolar

Illustrations : Wirth (1987: 482; 1995b: 936); Hestmark (1990: 567, fig. 14); Sancho et al. (1992: 193, fig. 3A, B; 194, fig. 4C, D); Wei & Jiang (1993: 152, fig. 82A; 153, fig. 83); Valladares (1994: 498, figs 24–26).

Umbilicaria nylanderiana is characterised by: the saxicolous habit; polyphyllous, often dissected thalli, 1–3(–5) cm diam., with lacerate, irregular margins without rhizinomorphs; the dark-brown to brown-black, or grey-brown, noticeably wrinkled upper surface (strongly so centrally); the sooty, black lower surface, sometimes blotchy and paler at margins, without rhizinomorphs, but with non-septate thalloconidia often densely clustered and producing an impression of being multiseptate (Hestmark 1990: 567); and sessile to subpedicellate, convex, black, gyrose apothecia.