Flora of New Zealand Series

≡Lecidea sabuletorum δ[L.] vorticosa Flörke, Ges. Naturf. Freunde Berlin Mag. 2: 311 (1808).

Description : Thallus cryptothalline to verrucose-areolate; areolae irregularly shaped, whitish, ±plane, surface roughened. Prothallus not apparent. Apothecia crowded, round to irregular through mutual pressure, auriculate, sessile, constricted at base, 0.5–1(–1.2) mm diam.; disc plane to subconvex, black, shining, epruinose. Exciple distinct, persistent, black, shining, 50–100 μm thick, ectal and inner zones dark-brown. Hypothecium dark brown, 50–100 μm thick. Hymenium (35–)40–55 μm high, colourless to pale-green, paraphyses mostly branched and anastomosing; epithecium blue-green, 15–20 μm thick. Ascospores oblong-ellipsoidal, mainly simple, rarely 1-septate, 8–13 × 3.5–5 μm. Pycnidia not seen.

Chemistry : TLC−, all reactions negative.

S: Westland (Mt Haast), Canterbury (Mt Rolleston Arthur's Pass, Mt Peel), Otago (St Bathans Ra., Rock & Pillar Ra.), Southland (Borland Saddle). On alpine rocks, 1400–2955 m in exposed habitats, together with Sporastatia testudinea, Stereocaulon caespitosum and Tremolecia atrata. Widespread in arctic-alpine regions of the Northern Hemisphere (Hertel 1971,1977a; Elvebakk & Hertel 1996; Nimis & Martellos 2003; Knoph et al. 2004) and in the Southern Hemisphere from the Andes, the Prince Edwards Is, the South Shetland Is, South Georgia, Antarctica, from the Snowy Mountains of Australia and from Tasmania (Hertel 1971, 1985b, 1989, 2001; Rambold 1989; Øvstedal & Lewis Smith 2001; McCarthy 2003c, 2006; Søchting et al. 2004). Along with Lecanora polytropa, it was recorded from a height of 7400 m in the Himalaya, the highest known records for lichens on earth (Hertel 1977a, 2001). Recently, it was recorded from the La Gorce mountains in Antarctica at lat. 86°30's, 147°W, the most southerly locality known for lichens (Broady & Weinstein 1998).

Bipolar

Illustrations : Dobson (2000: 104; 2005: 113).

Carbonea vorticosa is a very small and easily overlooked species. It is characterised by: the saxicolous habit (alpine to high-alpine rocks); an often evanescent epilithic thallus (TLC− ); small, black, thin-margined, shining apothecia, constricted at base and appearing to sit directly on bare rock (rarely more than 0.7 mm diam., often much less); a darkly pigmented (almost black) exciple; dark-brown hypothecium; a low (35–50 μm) bright-green to emerald-green hymenium; and small, oblong-ellipsoidal ascospores (Hertel 1985b: 308). It is a high-alpine species that is known from 7400 m in the Himalaya and to 5300 m in the Andes (Hertel 1977a, 2001).