Flora of New Zealand Series

≡Parmelia sieberiana Laurer, Linnaea 2: 38 (1827).

Description : Thallus loosely to closely attached, forming ±elevated, caespitose clumps, 1–3(–5) cm diam. Lobes flattened, dorsiventral, 1–5 mm long, 0.3–0.8 mm wide, sparingly branched to entangled, flat to convex, pale-yellow to orange-red above, white below, corticate on both upper and lower surfaces; with abundant marginal, and occasionally also laminal cilia to 1.5 mm long, concolorous with thallus. Minute granular to isidia-like structures occasionally present at margins and on upper surface. Soredia absent. Apothecia common, sessile to distinctly pedicellate, 0.5–2.5(–5) mm diam., marginal cilia rare or absent, but with occasional, scattered, short cilia on thalline exciple below disc. Ascospores 12–16 × 7–9 μm. Pycnidia large, protruding. Conidia bifusiform.

Chemistry : Chemosyndrome A with parietin (major), emodin, parietinic acid, fallacinal, teloschistin and erythroglaucin (Søchting & Frödén 2002).

N: Northland (Warkworth), Auckland (Auckland City), South Auckland (Awhitu, Thames, Huntly). On Kauri (Agathis australis) leaves, twigs of Plagianthus and on Crataegus. Associating with Heterodermia speciosa, Parmotrema reticulatum and Ramalina celastri. Still rather poorly known and collected. Also in Australia (Filson 1969, 1996; Filson & Rogers 1979; McCarthy 2003c, 2006).

Australasian

Illustrations : Filson (1969: 99, pl. 7); Filson & Rogers (1979: pl. 15B).

Teloschistes sieberianus is characterised by: the corticolous habit; the caespitose thallus; the flattened, corticate, dorsiventral lobes, sparingly branched to entangled; the abundant marginal, often white-tipped or hyaline cilia (usually also laminal); laminal and marginal, granular to isidia-like structures; the absence of soredia; sessile to pedicellate apothecia, without marginal cilia, but with short cilia present on thalline exciple below disc. Lobes are less flattened than in T. spinosus and T. xanthorioides, and are often verrucose (×10 lens). Pycnidia are large and protruding, with bifusiform conidia. It is most similar to T. xanthorioides, but this species does not have cilia on the upper surface, and it also has smaller, less protruding pycnidia, and more distinctly pedicellate apothecia.