Flora of New Zealand Series

Holotype: New Zealand. North I., Gisborne, Urewera National Park, 22 km SE of Ruatahuna, 1.5 km S of Lake Waikareiti, along Waikareiti Track, 38º44's, 177º 09'E, c. 800 m, in mixed Nothofagus forest, on trunk of N. menziesii, 17.v.1981, L. Tibell 13010 – UPS.

Description : Thallus mainly endophloeodal, whitish, continuous or cracked, effuse; prothallus absent. Apothecia sessile, scattered, solitary or aggregated in groups of 2–4, round to irregular through mutual pressure, constricted at base, 0.5–2.5 mm diam.; disc plane to subconvex, densely covered with white pruina; margins smooth, entire, at first slightly raised, excluded at maturity. Hymenium 100–140 μm tall, I+ reddish, clear-blue below. Hypothecium 30–70 μm thick, grey. Paraphysoids branched and anastomosing, 2–2.5 μm diam., apical cells coralloid, greyish. Asci cylindrical–clavate, 70–95 × 15–18 μm. Ascospores fusiform, attenuate at apices, straight or rarely curved, 3–(4–5)-septate, 20–32 × 5–6(–6.5) μm. Pycnidia immersed or sub-immersed, 150–180 μm tall and 100–125 μm wide, pyriform to subglobose. Microconidia 6–8 × 1–1.2 μm, straight or curved; macroconidia 9–12 × 3–3.5 μm, curved, sometimes sigmoid, rarely straight.

Chemistry : Thallus K− or + yellow, C−, Pd−; containing schizopeltic and, less frequently, lepraric acid.

N: South Auckland (Pio Pio), Gisborne (Lake Waikareiti), Taranaki (Kaitake Ra.), Wellington (Ohakune). S: Canterbury (Peel Forest), Southland (Pourakino Valley). St: (Halfmoon Bay). On dry bark of rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum), Elaeocarpus and mountain and silver beech (Nothofagus solandri var. cliffortioides, N. menziesii), mainly lowland in ±closed forest, 100–800 m. Recently recorded from Tasmania where it appears to be uncommon (Kantvilas (2004j: 196–197).

Australasian

Illustrations : Egea & Torrente (1994: 92, pl. 6F–J); Kantvilas (2004j: 195, fig. 5E, F).

Lecanactis neozelandica is characterised by: the corticolous thallus; the whitish, effuse thallus; sessile, solitary to 2–4-aggregated apothecia, with densely white-pruinose discs; 3–(4–5)-septate ascospores, 20–32 × 5–6(–6.5) μm; and a secondary chemistry of schizopeltic and lepraric acids.