Flora of New Zealand Series

≡Cladonia merochlorophaea var. novochlorophaea Sipman, Acta Bot. Neerl. 22: 496 (1973).

Description : Primary thallus squamulose, squamules persistent or evanescent, inconspicuous. Podetia always scyphose, up to 3 cm tall, brownish green, simple or more rarely branched by proliferating scyphi. Scyphi up to 1 cm diam. Surface of podetia verruculose-corticate, partly granulose. Apothecia brown, stalked, to 3 mm wide.

Chemistry : Cortex K−, KC−, Pd+ red or Pd−; containing fumarprotocetraric acid, protocetraric acid, homosekikaic acid, sekikaic, 4'- O -methylnorhomosekikaic and 4'- O -methylnorsekikaic acids.

S: ? C: ? Known also from North America, Europe, the Antarctic Peninsula region, Uruguay, Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Argentina and the Falkland Is (Stenroos & Ahti 1991, 1992; Stenroos 1993, 1995; Ahti 2000; Øvstedal & Lewis Smith 2001).

Bipolar

Illustrations : Stenroos et al. (1992: 67, lam. VI, fig. 7 – as Cladonia merochlorophaea var. novochlorophaea); Stenroos (1993: 332, fig. 12B – as Cladonia merochlorophaea var. novochlorophaea).

Cladonia novochlorophaea is characterised by: the brownish, scyphose podetia with a well-developed verruculose cortex; and the presence of homosekikaic and sekikaic acids.