Xanthoparmelia incerta
≡Parmelia incerta Kurok. & Filson, Bull. Natnl Sci. Mus., Tokyo, ser. B, 1: 39 (1975).
Description : Thallus adnate to tightly adnate on rock, to 5 cm diam. Lobes imbricate or not, irregular, not constricted, irregularly branched, 1–3 mm wide, occasionally developing narrower (0.5–1 mm) sublinear-elongate laciniae, apices subrotund. Upper surface pale yellow-green, darkening with age, convex, matt, emaculate, without isidia or soredia, older lobes becoming wrinkled and at length areolate, lobes often black-rimmed. Lower surface plane, wrinkled, black to dark-brown, paler at margins, rhizinate. Rhizines sparse, simple, robust, short, black. Apothecia sessile, to 8 mm diam., disc deeply concave to plane or undulate, dark-brown; thalline exciple thin, crenulate to deeply incised. Ascospores 11–13 × 7–8 μm. Pycnidia common. Conidia bifusiform, 5–6 × 0.5 μm.
Chemistry : Cortex K−; medulla K+ yellow→dark-red, C−, KC−, Pd+ orange-red; containing usnic, salazinic (major), ±constipatic and ±5- O -methylhypoprotocetraric acids.
N: Gisborne. S: Canterbury, Otago. On dry, sunny rocks in arid areas. Known also from Australia, Tasmania, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, California, Arizona and Mexico (Elix 1994s: 253; McCarthy 2003c, 2006; Nash & Elix 2004; Nash et al. 2004a).
Palaeotropical
Illustrations : Kurokawa & Filson (1975: pl. 2, fig. 1 – as Parmelia incerta); Elix (1994s: 252, fig. 98C).
Xanthoparmelia incerta is characterised by: the saxicolous habit; the relatively broad, adnate to tightly adnate lobes; a black lower surface; and the presence of salazinic acid in the medulla. It is similar to X. tasmanica, but that species has a loosely adnate thallus.
