Flora of New Zealand Series

Holotype: New Zealand. Otago, Poolburn Reservoir near fishing huts, on sloping, flaking schist slab in grassland, 750 m, 9.iii.2002, D.J. Galloway 5199 – CHR 533612.

Description : Thallus 1–5 cm diam., of scattered to contiguous, convex areolae (0.2–)0.5–1.5 mm diam., separated by deep cracks or widely dispersed and sometimes not apparent; areolae whitish or grey-white at first or with minute, orange-red patches, at length becoming distinctly orange-red to red-brown, paler than disc; sometimes thallus is almost completely lacking. Apothecia prominent, scattered to crowded, sessile, rounded to somewhat irregular, to contorted through mutual pressure, (0.1–)0.5–1 (–1.5) mm diam., disc dark rusty red-brown, becoming somewhat blackened with age, matt, plane to convex, smooth to irregularly and minutely fissured (×10 lens); thalline margin not apparent; proper margin persistent, prominent, slightly raised, entire, matt or slightly glossy, orange-red, noticeably paler than disc. Epithecium densely granular, yellow-brown, 17–25 μm thick. Hymenium colourless, 70–80 μm tall; subhymenial layer 25–50 μm thick, inspersed with yellow-brown granules. Hypothecium colourless, inspersed with oil droplets, 150–220 μm thick. A continuous, well-developed photobiont layer (to 75 μm thick) is present below whole of hypothecium. Paraphyses 2–3 μm wide, apices moniliform and branched, apices swollen and appearing knobbly, 5–6 μm diam. Asci cylindrical, 50–60 × 10–13 μm, 8-spored. Asci ellipsoidal, apices rounded or one pointed, 11.5–15(–18.5) × 5–7 μm; septum 3.5–5 μm thick, ¼ to ⅓ length of spore.

Chemistry : Thallus and apothecia K+ reddish purple; containing parietin.

S: Otago (Kurow, Poolburn Reservoir, Tucker Hill Alexandra). On flaking schist slabs in full sun in alpine grassland, and on loose schist pebbles on the ground in bare soil. Associating with Candelariella vitellina and Xanthoparmelia mougeotina.

Endemic

Illustration : Galloway (2004c: 107, fig. 4).

Caloplaca schisticola is characterised by: the saxicolous habit; a thallus of scattered to contiguous, convex areolae (0.2–)0.5–1.5 mm diam., separated by deep cracks or widely dispersed and sometimes not apparent; areolae whitish or grey-white at first or with minute, orange-red patches, at length becoming distinctly orange-red to red-brown; apothecia prominent, scattered to crowded, sessile, disc dark rusty red-brown, becoming somewhat blackened with age, matt, plane to convex, smooth to irregularly and minutely fissured (×10 lens); thalline margin not apparent; proper margin persistent; ascospores ellipsoidal, apices rounded or one pointed, 11.5–15(–18.5) × 5–7 μm; septum 3.5–5 μm thick, ¼ to ⅓ length of spore.