Flora of New Zealand Series

Parmelia glabrans Nyl., Flora 58: 15 (1875).

Thallus appressed throughout, to strongly pulvinate, loosely to tightly adnate, 3-12 cm diam., saxicolous or terricolous. Lobes 0.5-4 mm broad, ± flat, short and rounded, to somewhat elongate or sublinear and angular, subdiscrete to imbricate or loosely entangled. Upper surface olive-brown to yellowish or reddish-brown or dark brown, paler and yellower near apices, smooth, weakly wrinkled apically, strongly fissured or rugose centrally, sometimes developing ± upright, subfruticose branches, dull to subnitid at apices, sometimes with scattered pruina, without isidia. Lower surface dark brown to black, paler at apices, smooth, dull to subnitid, moderately rhizinate, rhizines concolorous with lower surface, to 1 mm long. Apothecia common, sessile, to short-pedicellate, concave to plane or irregular, margins entire to weakly crenate or lacerate. Ascospores ellipsoid to subglobose, 7-11 × 4-6 µm. Pycnidia common. Conidia bifusiform 5-8 × 1 µm. Chemistry: Cortex K-, HNO3 ± dark blue-green; medulla K-, C- or ± rose, KC-, Pd-. Alectoronic and α-collatolic acids, rarely gyrophoric acid. UV ± blue white.

S: Canterbury (Ball Hut, Mt Peel), Otago (Alexandra, Dunedin). M: Widely distributed with a broad range of morphological variation.

Cosmopolitan

One other non-isidiate species N. peloloba endemic to the mountains of southern New Zealand contains alectoronic acid and may be confused with N. glabrans but has discrete linear-elongate lobes, and smaller, rather more strongly convex apothecia.