Catillaria variegata (Müll.Arg.) Zahlbr.
Patellaria variegata Müll. Arg., J. Linn. Soc. Lond. Bot. 32: 205 (1896).
Lectotype: New Zealand. Sine loco. W. Colenso 1578, BM!
Thallus pale whitish-grey, sparse, granular to effuse, delimited by a thin, black, marginal prothallus, corticolous or lignicolous. Apothecia 0.1-0.8 (rarely 2-4) mm diam., sessile, scattered, solitary, round to subirregular, disc plane to subconvex, matt or shining, ± translucent, pale red-brown to dark brown-black, with or without a thin ± obsolete white pruina, mainly glabrous, margins raised, concolorous with disc, entire, thin, persistent. Epithecium pale olive-yellowish, granular, 8-10 µm tall. Hymenium 30-60 µm tall, colourless. Hypothecium 25 µm thick, pale brownish. Paraphyses conglutinate, slightly swollen at apices, simple. Ascospores ellipsoid-cylindrical or oblong-fusiform with slightly pointed ends, straight, narrow, 8.3-12(-13) × 2-3 µm.
N: Sine loco (Colenso) - BM.
Endemic
C. variegata grows mainly on decorticated wood or lignum. It is characterised by the ± obsolete thallus and small, marginate fruits and distinguished from the lignicolous species C. semipallida by the larger, consistently marginate fruits.
