Flora of New Zealand Series

P. granulata (Church. Bab.) Malme, Bihang K. Sv. Vet.-Akad. Handl. 25 (3) 6: 21 (1899).

Sticta granulata Church. Bab., Fl. N.Z. 2: 281 (1855).

Lectotype [fide Galloway and James loc. cit., p. 299 (1980)]: New Zealand. Middle I. (South I.) Sine loco, D. Lyall, BM!

Thallus laciniate-lobate, spreading, ± loosely attached, 10-15(-25) cm diam. Lobes deeply incised, ± linear-elongate, margins very irregular, often lacerate- ragged and ± ascending, or flat, ± densely granular-sorediate. Upper surface glaucous green or fawn to olivaceous when wet, greyish-fawn when dry, thick, coriaceous, smooth to ± reticulate-faveolate, ridges low, ± sorediate. Soredia coarse, granular, whitish at first becoming superficially blackened. Medulla white. Photobiont green. Lower surface tomentose to margins, tomentum thick, regular, even, dark brown to blackish. Pseudocyphellae white, conspicuous. Apothecia marginal or submarginal, sessile or subpedicellate, disc 1-2 mm diam., smooth, dark brown or blackish, matt, margins concolorous with thallus, ± sorediate, thalline exciple smooth. Ascospores brown to blackish, polaribilocular, 27-30 × 9-12 µm. Chemistry: Hopane-6α,7β,22-triol, methyl virensate, physciosporin, norstictic, constictic and stictic acids (Wilkins and James loc. cit., Code B).

N: S: St: A: Throughout, south of Hen I., (lat. 36° S) on bark of trees and shrubs, often common in successional vegetation (especially as an epiphyte of Leptospermum, Fuchsia, Olearia) s.l. to 1000 m.

Austral

P. granulata is the most widespread sorediate species of the genus in New Zealand and is the sorediate counterpart species of P. faveolata. Babington ( loc. cit., p. 281) when describing it in 1855 noted "... The olive-green colour, the scrobiculated thallus, and, above all, the tendency of the plant to produce copious dirty coralline pulvinate soredia, often covering the centre, and the irregular, ill-developed, dirty yellow cyphellae, are its most obvious characters...". Apart from the pseudocyphellae which are white, this is an accurate description of the plant, one which is not easily confused with any other species.