Flora of New Zealand Series

Type : Candelaria vulgaris A.Massal. [=Candelaria concolor (Dicks.) Arn.]

Description : Flora (1985: 71). See also Westberg & Nash (2002: 116).

Candelaria is a cosmopolitan species of c. 10 species (Poelt & Reddi 1969; Poelt 1974a; Filson 1992a; Kärnefelt & Westberg 2001; Kirk et al. 2001; Westberg & Nash 2002) included in the family Lecanoraceae (Eriksson et al. 2004; Pennycook & Galloway 2004). A characteristic of the genus is the production of pulvinic acid derivatives (K− in distinction to the K+ purple reaction of anthraquinones such as parietin in the Teloschistaceae) giving a strong yellow colour to the thallus. Candelaria is distinguished from Candelariella by the foliose-lobate nature of the thallus, a feature most easily seen at the thallus margins. One species is present in New Zealand.