Flora of New Zealand Series

Thallus foliose, lobate, ± orbicular to spreading, closely attached, to 10 cm diam., without a marginal, projecting prothallus, corticolous or saxicolous. Lobes narrow, 1-2 mm wide, flabellate-cuneate, contiguous or imbricate, margins rounded, ± shallowly incised or crenate, conspicuously thickened below, whitish, scabrid (×10 lens). Upper surface pale greyish to yellow-grey, minutely granular or leprose (×10 lens) towards margins, smooth or subrugose or ridged, often strongly wrinkled-plicate centrally, isidiate. Isidia simple, granular at first, becoming gnarled-glomerulate, whitish-blue, marginal and on interlobe ridges, or occasionally scattered on upper surface, or becoming dense and forming a diffract-areolate crust centrally. Lower surface pale buff or creamish, tomentose at margins with tufts of short, brownish squarrose rhizines towards centre. Apothecia sessile, 1-1.5 mm diam., plane or subconvex, disc yellowish to pale red-brown, epruinose, margins thin, wrinkled, becoming isidiate-lobulate. Ascospores ellipsoid-oval, contents granular, 10-19 × 6-10 µm, wall 1-1.5 µm thick.

N: Three Kings Is, to Cuvier I., Rangitoto I., and Great Mercury I. Mainly an epiphyte of Leptospermum in northern coastal habitats, occasionally on rock.

Australasian - Palaeotropical

P. elatior is related to the Australian species P. sorediata Knight. In 19th century accounts of New Zealand lichens it is recorded as P. conoplea, or P. rubiginosa var. conoplea.