Peltigera neckeri
Description : Thallus in rosettes to irregularly spreading, 2–6(–8) cm diam. Lobes irregular, 0.5–1.5 cm wide, 1–3(–4) cm long. Margins irregularly scalloped or incised, slightly ascending, suffused red-brown, sometimes white-pruinose, sometimes ragged–eroded and regenerating small, irregular lobules or phyllidia. Upper surface celadon-green to steel-grey when wet, pale greyish green to ±olivaceous, tinged red-brownish when dry, matt or shining, ±maculate at margins and apices (×10 lens), with small to large patches of glistening, transparent to white pruina (×10 lens) developing mainly centrally. Lower surface pale, tomentose between veins. Veins, 0.5–1 mm wide, flat to ±raised, conspicuous at margins, anastomosing, pale-buff (at margins) to dark-brown or black centrally or ±uniformly black from margins to centre; interstices oval or lenticular, white or pale-buff. Rhizines fasciculate, dark-brown to black, 2–4(–6) mm long, rather sparse at margins, more common centrally. Apothecia erect, saddle-shaped to ±cylindrical or finger-like, 4–8 mm long, on short (3–5 mm), involute marginal lobes; disc dark red-brown to brown-black, epruinose; margins very thin, pale, often obscured by inrolled disc, dark-brown-tomentose below. Ascospores 3–7-septate, elongate–fusiform, colourless, (35–)45–62(–70) × 2.5–5 μm.
Chemistry : Tenuiorin, methyl gyrophorate, gyrophoric acid, dolichorrhizin, zeorin and several unidentified triterpenoids (Holtan-Hartwig 1988, 1993).
N: Northland (Waipoua Forest, Great Barrier I.), Auckland (Anawhata), South Auckland (Te Aroha, Pio Pio), Gisborne (Lake Waikaremoana), Wellington (Ohakune, Tararua Ra.). S: Canterbury (Arthur's Pass. Mt Cook), Westland (Moeraki, Lichen Creek, Waiatoto Valley), Otago (Matukituki Valley, Pigeon I. Lake Wakatipu, Swampy Summit, Maungatua, Blue Mts), Southland (Milford Sound, Bluecliffs). St: (Moturau Moana, Wilson Bay) [map in Galloway (2000d: 26, fig. 10)]. On sandy soil, among mosses in humid sites, often at streamsides or riverbanks (where it is occasionally ±inundated), or alongside shaded paths and on damp, mossy roadside banks. Known also from temperate and boreal regions of North America, Europe and Asia (Vitikainen 2004a).
Bipolar
Illustrations : Sérusiaux et al. (2004: 126); Dobson (2005: 319).
Peltigera neckeri is distinguished by: the terricolous/muscicolous habit; the presence of white, glistening, irregular patches of laminal pruina (×10 lens) that give thalli a pale celadon-green colour when wet. The only other species having white pruina on the lobes is P. tereziana, but this is much less densely pruinose, the pruina being mainly confined to the lobe margins and marginal phyllidia, it also has horizontal, round apothecia that are quite different to the erect, saddle-shaped to ±cylindrical apothecia of P. neckeri.
