Flora of New Zealand Series

≡Neofuscelia malcolmii Elix, Mycotaxon 65: 486 (1997).

Holotype: New Zealand: South I., Canterbury, Kea Point Trail, The Hermitage, Mount Cook, 850 m, on rocks in open subalpine scrub, 31.xii.1981, J.A. Elix 9721, WELT.

Description : Thallus foliose, tightly adnate, forming irregular rosettes 3–6 cm diam. Lobes radiating, discrete, elongate to linear-elongate, subdichotomously branched, 1–3 mm wide, usually wider at or near margins, narrowing centrally. Upper surface dark-brown to brown-black, slightly paler and red-brown at apices, plane, without soredia or isidia; apices shining, smooth or irregularly pitted, older lobes becoming dull, cracked and wrinkled. Medulla white. Lower surface pale-tan, wrinkled, glabrous at margins and apices; rhizines sparse, unevenly distributed, simple, pale-brown. Apothecia common, sessile or subpedicellate, to 2 mm wide; disc shallowly concave then ±flat, dark brown, shining; thalline exciple thin, margin entire. Ascospores ellipsoidal, 7–9 × 3.5–5.5 μm. Pycnidia common, immersed. Conidia bifusiform, 5.5–6.5 × 1 μm.

Chemistry : Cortex K−, HNO3+ dark blue-green; medulla K−, C−, KC−, Pd−; containing 4- O -methylolivetoric acid (major) and microphyllinic acid (minor/tr.).

S: Canterbury (Kea Pt Mt Cook National Park, Foggy Peak Torlesse Ra.). On rocks in open subalpine to alpine heath or scrub. Still rather rarely collected and poorly known.

Endemic

Illustration : (Elix 1997d: 487, fig. 5 – as Neofuscelia malcolmii).

Xanthoparmelia malcolmii resembles X. adpicta, X. olivetoricella and X. plana, as all have stellate, tightly adnate thalli with flat lobes that are wider at the apices than centrally. X. malcolmii, however, is readily distinguished from the other three taxa by the colour of the lower surface, being pale-tan in this species, but black in the remainder. The taxa are also distinguished chemically since X. adpicta contains divaricatic acid, X. plana contains glomelliferic acid, X. malcolmii has 4- O -methylolivetoric acid, and X. olivetoricella has olivetoric acid.