Flora of New Zealand Series

≡Melaspilea metabola Nyl., Bull. Soc. linn. Normandie, sér. 2, 2: 69 (1868).

≡Melampilidium metabolum (Nyl.) Müll.Arg., Bull. Herb. Boissier 2, App.1: 79 (1894).

=Lecidea amphorodes Stirt., Rep. Trans. Glasgow Soc. Field Nat. 1: 19 (1873).

≡Melaspilea amphorodes (Stirt.) Stirt., Trans. N. Z. Inst. 6: 238 (1874).

≡Melampilidium amphorodes (Stirt.) Stirt., Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 14: 471 (1875).

Lecidea amphorodes. Lectotype: New Zealand. Wellington, Tinakori Hills, J. Buchanan, 1873 – BM [fide Galloway (1985a: 270)]. Isolectotype – WELT.

Descriptions : Flora (1985: 270 – as Melampilidium metabolum); Egea & Torrente (1995: 58–60).

N: Wellington (Karori, Tinakori Hills). S: Otago (Mt Cargill). On bark of Cordyline, Hoheria and Dacrydium cupressinum. Forming mosaics with other crustose taxa such as Bactrospora arthonioides, Chiodecton colensoi and species of Opegrapha and Thelotrema. Known also from the Andaman Is, New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea (Aptroot et al. 1995: 25–26; Egea & Torrente 1995: 60; Egea et al. 1996: 49) and Tasmania (Kantvilas 2004j).

Palaeotropical

Illustrations : Knight (1875a: pl. XXIII, fig. 18; 1877: pl. XXXVIII, fig. 8 – as Melaspilea metabola); Egea & Torrente (1995: 59, figs 1–8); Malcolm & Malcolm (2000: 72); Lumbsch et al. (2001: 40); Kantvilas (2004j: 190, fig. 3).

Bactrospora metabola is characterised by: the corticolous habit; the white, spreading, continuous to areolate thallus forming patches 2–5(–10) cm diam. generally delimited by a wavy, black line of prothallus and the scattered, rounded, semi-immersed to adnate or sessile apothecia (constricted at base) which are black, epruinose, convex and usually immarginate. It has dichotomously branched paraphysoids which are loosely interlaced and with few or no anastomoses, characteristic, broadly pyriform asci, and colourless, muriform ascospores (homalotropa -type). It has no demonstrable chemistry.