Flora of New Zealand Series

Parmelia lugubris f. compactior Zahlbr., Denkschr. Akad. Wiss. Wien. math.-naturwiss. kl. 104: 358 (1941).

Lectotype (fide Elix loc. cit., p. 203): New Zealand, Otago, Mt Pisgah. J.S. Thomson ZA 215, W.

Lobes crowded, densely and often irregularly branched, narrow (1-3 mm wide), commonly imbricate, apices brown (both upper and lower surfaces), often no obvious differences between upper and lower surfaces, black lines and bands rare on absent. Chemistry: Cortex K+ yellow; medulla KC+ red, Pd+ red-orange. Atranorin, chloroatranorin, physodic, physodalic, protocetraric ±, 2' -O-methylphysodic ±, alectoronic ± 3-hydroxyphysodic ±, vittatolic ± and olivetoric ± acids.

N: Wellington (Mt Tongariro). S: Canterbury (Mt Hutt) and Otago mountains east of the Main Divide. St: C: In open windswept heaths, alpine. In New Zealand most frequently collected from high alpine sites east of the Main Divide from Canterbury to Stewart I. (Tin Ra.).

Austral

Morphological variation is discussed by Elix (loc. cit.) , who reports a distinct chemodeme (traces of physodic acid and related metabolites but with high concentrations of the corresponding depside, olivetoric acid) from specimens gathered on the Kakanui Mountains (Otago).