Flora of New Zealand Series

Holotype: New Zealand. Canterbury: Mitchell's Track, Port Hills, Banks Peninsula, 420 m. on moist rock ledges in remnant forest, 17.iv.1980, J.A. Elix 7809 – CHR.

Description : Thallus foliose, adnate to loosely adnate, pale ash grey to brownish grey, to 10 cm diam. Lobes irregular, crowded, imbricate, 2–4 mm wide, rounded at apices, margins crenulate. Upper surface glossy, becoming white-maculate (×10 lens), slightly ridged, rugulose or weakly faveolate, pseudocyphellate. Pseudocyphellae punctiform, confined to receptacle of apothecia, rarely laminal, without soredia, but lobulate-isidiate. Lobules marginal at first, developing terete isidia from the margins. Isidia cylindrical to slightly flattened, simple to coralloid, often densely covering lobes. Medulla white. Lower surface black centrally, paler marginally, sparsely to moderately rhizinate; rhizines simple to fasciculate or tufted, concolorous with lower surface. Apothecia rare, subpedicellate, crowded centrally, to 12 mm diam., disc irregularly concave at first, becoming undulate-distorted and ±stellate-cracked with age, red-brown to dark-brown; margins thin, persistent, isidiate; exciple rugulose, pseudocyphellate, densely isidiate. Asci 8-spored. Ascospores colourless, ellipsoidal, 11–14 × 7–8 μm. Pycnidia scattered, subapical, immersed. Conidia filiform, 9–10 × 1.5 μm.

Chemistry : Thallus K−; medulla K−, C+ red, Pd−; containing atranorin (tr.), chloroatranorin (tr.), lecanoric acid (major) and orsellinic acid (tr.).

N: Wellington (Ohakune). S: Canterbury (Banks Peninsula). On tree branches and rocks in forest.

Endemic

Illustration : Elix & Johnston (1988a: 503, fig. 10)

Punctelia novozelandica is characterised by: the saxicolous/corticolous habit; cylindrical to sublobulate isidia on the upper surface; a black lower surface; and lecanoric acid as the major medullary constituent. It is distinguished from the closely related P. subflava by its black lower surface.