Flora of New Zealand Series

Description : Thallus very thin or evanescent, effuse, granular-papillate, greyish white or fawnish, over living and dead mosses, especially Andreaea, or on dust-impregnated decorticated wood. Apothecia very small, round, densely clustered and forming small cushions in moss, 0.1–0.6(–1) mm diam., disc plane to subconvex, dark red-brown, matt. Epithecium brown, 15–20 μm thick. Hymenium 70–90 μm tall. Paraphyses 1–2 μm thick, apices capitate, 4–5 μm diam. Hypothecium 15–35(–60) μm thick, colourless. Asci Lecanora -type. Ascospores Physcia -type, spore ontogeny type A, torus well-developed, 16–25(–30) × 7–10.5(–13) μm.

Chemistry : TLC−, all reactions negative.

S: Canterbury (Hawdon River, Mt Peel, Mt Cook), Otago (Old Man Ra., Poolburn Reservoir, Old Dunstan Road N Rough Ridge, Lake Onslow, Lammerlaw Ra., Rock & Pillar Ra.). Among mosses (especially Andreaea) in the high-alpine zone, in very exposed habitats, rarely on decorticated wood in riverbeds. Originally described from Antarctica (Dodge & Baker 1938) it occurs quite widely in greater Antarctica and the subantarctic islands (Murray 1963 – as Rinodina egentissima; Filson 1966 – as Rinodina archaeoides; Lamb 1968 – as R. archaeoides; Filson 1975 – who showed that R. olivaceobrunnea and R. archaeoides are conspecific; Øvstedal 1983a, 1983b, 1986 – as Rinodina turfacea; Jaobsen & Kappen 1989; Øvstedal & Lewis Smith 2001; Søchting et al. 2004) and also in the Arctic (Magnusson 1947 – as R.inodina archaeoides H. Magn.; Timpe 1990; Santesson 1993) – Greenland, Sweden, Norway and in the high alpine areas of Europe including Austria, Italy, Sardinia, Switzerland, Spain, and Slovakia (Timpe 1990; Nimis & Martellos 2003).

Bipolar

Illustrations : Dodge & Baker (1938: 710, pl. 61, figs 381–386); Filson (1975: 121, fig. 5A, B); Jacobsen & Kappen (1989: 175, fig. 1C, D); Timpe (1990: 42, fig. 18, 43, fig. 19); Øvstedal & Lewis Smith (2001: pl. 78); Nordic Lichen Flora Vol. 2 (2002: 106).

[For typification and additional synonymy see Timpe (1990: 41)].

Rinodina olivaceobrunnea is characterised by: the muscicolous habit; small apothecia (easily overlooked); and Physcia -type ascospores.