Flora of New Zealand Series

≡Parmelia menziesii Ach., Methodus: 221 (1803).

Description : Flora (1985: 253).

S: Nelson (Lake Sylvester), Canterbury (Lowry Peaks Ra. to Mt Cook), Otago (West Matukituki Valley to Catlins), Southland (Castle Rock, Oreti River Mouth, Waituna Lagoon). St: (Paterson Inlet). In subalpine to alpine grasslands in South I. from Lake Sylvester in Nelson (Lat 41ºS), to Stewart I. (44º13's), occurring close to s. l. in the southern part of its range (map in Galloway 1999: 344, fig. 14). It grows among grasses and other terricolous lichens, on damp soil, in sand dunes, on damp, mossy rocks, among stones at the edge of railway lines (E Gore), among cushion vegetation and rarely at the base of trees in open forest. It has an altitudinal range from s.l. to 1500 m. Known also from SE Australia, Tasmania, southern South America (Peru to Tierra del Fuego), Falkland Is, and South Georgia (Verdon 1992a; Galloway & Jørgensen 1995; Jørgensen 1997a; Galloway & Quilhot 1999; Øvstedal & Lewis Smith 2001; McCarthy 2003c, 2006).

Austral

Illustration : Øvstedal & Lewis Smith (2001: 240, fig. 34A).

Leptogium menziesii is characterised by: the terricolous/muscicolous habit; greenish blue to commonly browned to red-brown, broadly orbicular, matt or in part shining lobes with entire margins, and densely hairy below. In the field it resembles a species of Peltigera. The apothecia are sessile to pedicellate, commonly hairy at the base, with broad, wrinkled margins. It is distinguished from L. malmei by thallus colour, and shorter, more rounded ascospores (Galloway & Jørgensen 1995).