Flora of New Zealand Series

Parmelia substrigosa Hale in Weber, Lich. Exsicc.: 338 (1971).

Thallus foliose, lobate, loosely or ± evenly attached, to 10 cm diam. Lobes variable, linear-elongate, 3-8 mm wide, variously incised and divided, often imbricate, margins entire or slightly notched or incised, black, shining, occasionally eroded by amphipods, not ascending at apices. Upper surface yellowish-green, smooth, shining at margins, wrinkled, cracked centrally, isidia, maculae and soredia absent. Lower surface brown or tan, or whitish, darker centrally, wrinkled, papillate, often shining, ± densely rhizinate. Rhizines brown to brown-black or reddish-brown, simple, with ± squarrose, anchoring tufts at apices. Apothecia occasional to frequent, subpedicellate, to 12 mm diam., disc red-brown, concave to plane, imperforate, margins entire or crenulate, concolorous with thallus, thalline exciple smooth. Pycnidia common in fertile plants, often dense centrally, clustered, black, pustular. Chemistry: Cortex K-; medulla K+ yellow → red, C-, KC+ red, Pd+ orange. Norstictic, salazinic and usnic acids.

N: Near Napier. S: Marlborough to Otago. On coastal rocks and inland; montane and subalpine zones, on rocks and soil.

Australasian

X. substrigosa is distinguished from X. tasmanica chemically, and by the brown or pale lower surface, the squarrose tufts anchoring the rhizines to the substrate (?possibly important in soil consolidation in some areas), and by the wrinkled upper surface often with pustular, papillate pycnidia.