Flora of New Zealand Series

Thallus crustose, thin. Photobiont green, Trebouxia. Ascocarps in the form of pseudothecia, often compound, emergent. Paraphyses unbranched, free. Ascospores muriform, brown, subglobose to ellipsoid-oblong, 4-8 per ascus, or solitary, large.

Anthracothecium, a mainly tropical genus of c. 93 species, is included in the family Pyrenulaceae. Malme [ Ark. Bot. 22A (II): 1-40 (1929)] discusses some South American species with useful notes on the genus. One species is recorded from New Zealand.