Flora of New Zealand Series

Thallus heteromerous, foliose, lobate, closely to loosely attached, saxicolous or terricolous. Lobes very variable, broad and rounded to narrow-elongate, laciniate. Upper surface smooth, occasionally wrinkled, matt, shining or maculate, sorediate or not, isidiate or not, yellowish or yellowish-green (usnic acid in upper cortex). Medulla white. Lower surface pale tan or brown or black, smooth or wrinkled, matt or shining, ± rhizinate. Rhizines rather sparse, simple, concolorous with lower surface, or black. Apothecia present or not, sessile to subpedicellate, disc red-brown, imperforate with a ± prominent margin, entire or crenulate, concolorous with thallus. Spores colourless, simple, ellipsoid, 5-12 × 3-6 µm, ± uniseriate, 8 per ascus. Pycnidia frequent in some fertile species, rare or absent in sterile species, punctiform, immersed, black or red- brown, minute.

Xanthoparmelia, included in the family Parmeliaceae, contains c. 100 species with centres of speciation in southern Africa and Australia. Taxa from Southern Australia (as Parmelia) are discussed by Filson [ Aust. J. Bot. 30: 511-582 (1982)]. Sixteen species are known in New Zealand [Galloway N.Z. J. Bot. 18: 525-552 (1981)] most being Australasian in affinity. Synonyms and their typification are given in Galloway ( loc. cit. ). Recently Elix and Armstrong [ Aust. J. Bot. 31: 467-483 (1983)] have described new taxa in Parmelia subgen. Xanthoparmelia, four of which (P. arapilensis, P. digitiformis, P. flindersiana and P. streimannii) also occur in New Zealand.