Anzia Stizenb.
Type : Anzia colpodes (Ach.) Stizenb. [=Lichen colpodes Ach.]
Description : Thallus foliose, loosely to closely adnate, orbicular to irregularly spreading, to 2–30 cm wide. Lobes flat to ±convex, rather small, laciniate and often somewhat articulated, narrow, eciliate. Upper surface pale grey-white to green-grey or bluish grey (atranorin), without pseudocyphellae and maculae, with or without soredia and isidia; upper cortex paraplectenchymatous with non-pored epicortex. Cell walls containing Cetraria -type lichenan. Medulla white, with or without a central chondroid strand. Lower surface with continuous or discontinuous, prominent, dense, brown-black spongiostratum (spongy hypothallus), with or without rhizines; rhizines simple or sparingly branched, stout, anchored to substratum by an apical squarrose tuft. Ascomata apothecia, laminal, sessile, subpedicellate or pedicellate; disc imperforate. Asci with a large amyloid tholus. Ascospores numerous, curved. Conidiomata pycnidia, globose or saucer-shaped, laminal, immersed; ostiole punctiform, brown-black. Conidia bacillar.
Key
Anzia is a cosmopolitan genus of c. 30 species included in the family Anziaceae (Eriksson et al. 2004; Pennycook & Galloway 2004; Eriksson 2005), most common in the Northern Hemisphere and particularly speciose in Japan. It is discussed in several recent papers (Henssen & Dobelman 1987; Yoshimura 1987; Yoshimura & Elix 1993; Sammy & Galloway 1994; Yoshimura et al. 1995, 1997). Recently, a fossil species was described, occurring in Baltic amber and dating back 40 million years (Rikkinen & Poinar 2002). The fossil provides the first hard evidence that the disjunct Laurasian distributions of some modern lichens represent relicts of a formerly wider range. The close similarity of the fossil (Anzia electra Rikkinen & Poinar) to existing species from East Asia and eastern North America suggests that the present range of Anziasect.Anzia is highly relict. Two species are recorded from New Zealand (Galloway 1978a, 1985a; Elix 1997b).
