Flora of New Zealand Series

≡Lecidea (Bombyliospora) monospora C.Knight, Trans. N. Z. Inst. 16: 402 (1884).

Lectotype: New Zealand, Sine loco. Charles Knight – BM [fide Galloway (1985a: 261)]. Isolectotype – WELT.

Description : Flora (1985: 261).

N: Wellington (Rimutaka Ra. Butterfly Creek). S: Westland (Alexander Ra. Camp Creek). On bark of Nothofagus truncata in streambed, and on bark of Weinmannia racemosa (Setzepfand & Sipman 2004). Still very poorly collected and understood.

Endemic

Illustration : Knight (1884: pl. XL, no. 10 – as Lecidea (Bombyliospora) monospora).

Lopadium monosporum is characterised by: the corticolous habit; the granular, scurfy thallus; the coal-black, scattered apothecia with corrugate–scabrid margins, concolorous with disc; asci with a solitary, muriform ascospore (up to 20 transverse septa and 7–9 vertical septa), 60–70 × 25–28 μm. Knight (1884: 403) says of it "...Differs from Lecid. lecanorella Nyl., in the spores being nearly double the size, and the transverse cells much more numerous. The blast cell at the apex of each paraphysis is remarkable [paraphysibus... pileum atrem oblongum v. conicum terminantibus" (Knight 1884: 402)]. Lecidea phaeomma Nyl., which was earlier treated as a synonym of Lopadium monosporum (Flora 1985: 261; Galloway 1992d: 21; Malcolm & Galloway 1997: 24), is referable to Brigantiaea phaeomma (Nyl.) Hafellner (q.v.).