Flora of New Zealand Series

≡Lichen crocatus L. Mantissa pl. alter. : 310 (1771). [For typifications and additional synonymy see Galloway & James (1980: 295; 1986: 431, 438), and Galloway (1988b: 113–115; 1994b: 123–124)].

Descriptions : Flora (1985: 435–436). See also Galloway (1988a: 115–116).

Chemistry : Tenuiorin, methyl gyrophorate, gyrophoric acid (tr.), hopane-7β,22-diol, hopane-6α,7β,22-triol, 7β-acetoxyhopan-6α,22-diol (tr.), 6α-acetoxyhopan-7β,22-diol (tr.), physciosporin (tr.), norstictic (tr.), stictic, cryptostictic (tr.), and constictic acids, pulvinic acid, pulvinic dilactone and calycin.

N: Northland (Three Kings Is) to Wellington. S: Nelson (Kaihoka Lakes) to Southland (Bluff Hill). St: (Mt Anglem to Table Hill). Ch.: Sn: A: C: Throughout [map in Galloway (1988a: 117, fig. 50)], widespread and common, on rocks in open grassland, and on twigs or bark of lowland trees and shrubs or at treeline in subalpine habitats, also on roadside rocks and occasionally on rock walls in parks and gardens, s.l. to 1950 m. It is rarely seen in areas of high rainfall or high cloud cover, preferring drier, open habitats exposed to full sun. The most widespread species in the genus, it is known from Great Britain, W Scandinavia (Degelius 1935; Santesson 1993), Macaronesia, St Helena, South Africa, Madagascar, Réunion, Prince Edward I., India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, Hawai'i, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Norfolk I., Solomon Is, Samoa, Fiji, Tahiti, Galápagos Is, Juan Fernández, North, Central and South America and Australia (Degelius 1935; Galloway & Arvidsson 1990; Galloway 1992c, 1994b; Purvis et al. 1992; Santesson 1993; Elix & McCarthy 1998; Brodo et al. 2001; Galloway et al. 2001b; Spribille 2002; McCarthy 2003c, 2006).

Cosmopolitan

Illustrations : Martin & Child (1972: 118, pl. 30 – as Pseudocyphellaria mougeotiana); Moore & Irwin (1978: 15, fig. 2); Galloway & James (1980: 296, fig. 2; 1986: 458–459, fig. 11B – as Sticta aurigera; 460–461, fig. 12B – as Sticta aurigera var. nuda; 484–485, fig. 26B – as Sticta mougeotiana; 486–487, fig. 27B – as Sticta mougeotiana var. xantholoma); Galloway (1988a: 114, fig. 48; 115, fig. 49); Malcolm & Malcolm (1989: 104; 2000: 48; 2001: 30); Goward et al. (1994b: 119, fig. 6A); Jørgensen et al. (1994a: 300, fig. 21); Malcolm & Galloway (1997: 106, 175); Kantvilas & Jarman (1999: 117); Dobson (2000: 326); Brodo et al. (2001: 594, pl. 718); Flora of Australia 58A (2001: 98, pl. 36); McDonald et al. (2003: 69, fig. 3I); Dobson (2005: 370).

Pseudocyphellaria crocata is characterised by: rather variable lobes; an undulate to densely reticulate-faveolate upper surface; a white medulla; a cyanobacterial photobiont; yellow soralia (both laminal and marginal) on the upper surface; yellow pseudocyphellae on the lower surface; and a complex chemistry of depsides, hopane triterpenoids, depsidones and yellow pigments.