Flora of New Zealand Series

Type : Ramboldia stuarti (Hampe) Kantvilas & Elix [Lecidea stuarti Hampe]

Description : Thallus crustose, areolate, effuse or immersed in bark. Photobiont green, trebouxioid. Ascomata apothecia, lecideine, sessile, constricted at base to broadly adnate, black or reddish brown; margins persistent. Exciple unpigmented internally, composed of conglutinate, radiating, branched and anastomosing hyphae. Hypothecium unpigmented. Asci clavate, Lecanora -type; tholus with a strongly amyloid (I+ blue) lateral part, a non-amyloid (I–) broadly diverging masse axiale with a thick I− cap above and a weakly amyloid outer layer. Hamathecium of paraphyses, sparsely branched and anastomosing, generally with apices unexpanded and unpigmented. Ascospores 8 per ascus, simple, hyaline, narrowly ellipsoidal, without a perispore. Conidiomata pycnidia. Conidia filiform.

Ramboldia comprises seven species in the family Lecanoraceae (Kantvilas & Elix 1994; Kalb 2001b, 2004; Elix 2004b; Eriksson et al. 2004; Pennycook & Galloway 2004). It is closely related to Pyrrhospora (q.v.) (Printzen & May 2002) but differs in the anatomy of its apothecia, the most obvious difference being the absence of anthraquinone pigments in the apothecia of Ramboldia. The genus is discussed in detail by Kantvilas & Elix (1994) and by Elix (2004b). Two species are known from New Zealand.