Flora of New Zealand Series

≡Peltidea canina γ membranacea Ach., Lichenogr. universalis: 518 (1810).

Description : Flora (1985: 364). See also Galloway (2000d: 23).

Chemistry : TLC−, all reactions negative.

N: Wellington (Ruapehu, Tiritea). S: Nelson (Matakitaki Valley), Marlborough (Blue Duck Scientific Reserve), Canterbury (Arthur's Pass, Banks Peninsula, Mt Cook), Otago (Deep Stream, Sandymount, Mt Cargill, Taieri Beach), Southland (Milford Sound, Argyle Burn, Invercargill). St: (Ulva I., Waituna Bay) [map in Galloway (2000d: 22, fig. 8)]. On damp soil, on rotting wood, stumps, among grasses and on damp rocks in rather open situations rather than in closed forest sites. It is still rather poorly collected and understood in New Zealand. Known also from North America, W Europe (including Macaronesia, Great Britain and Scandinavia), Asia and Tasmania (Kantvilas 1994; Vitikainen 1994b, 2004a; Filson 1996; McCarthy 2003c, 2006).

Cosmopolitan

Illustrations : Olech & Alstrup (1988: 177, fig. 1); Goffinet & Hastings (1994: 33, figs 57, 58); Goward et al. (1994b: 100, fig. 27B) ; Vitikainen (1994b: 62, fig. 103); Wirth (1995a: 680 F); McCune & Geiser (1997: 212); Dobson (2000: 285; 2005: 318); Brodo et al. (2001: 515, pl. 606).

Peltigera membranacea is characterised by: the terricolous/corticolous habit; broad lobes with tomentose, downrolled margins and scattered tomentum on the upper surface; raised, anastomosing veins that are covered with an erect tomentum (×10 lens), the inter-vein interstices broadly polygonal, and discrete, long, slender, simple rhizines covered with erect tomentum (bottle-brush-like). It has a thinner thallus than P. canina and is also separated from this species by the above characters and the slightly longer spores. Vitikainen (1994b: 63) opines that Southern Hemisphere collections named as P. membranacea"probably represent other species"; however, New Zealand collections agree well with material seen from Great Britain, Europe and Scandinavia. Colour morphs of P. malacea, P. membranacea and some other taxa are known (Holtan-Hartwig 1993; Goward et al. 1995). A recent study of British Columbia populations of P. membranacea investigates the relationship between thallus colour and genetic variability in the Nostoc photobionts (Miao et al. 1997).