Flora of New Zealand Series

Description : Thallus moderately adnate to rock substratum, to 16 cm diam. Lobes imbricate and entangled, 1.5–2.5(–5) mm wide, secondary lobes narrower, overlying the marginal lobes, irregularly rotund. Upper surface yellow-green to yellow-blue-green, darkening with age, smooth and slightly glossy at margins, dull and wrinkled centrally, often with black margins, without isidia, maculae or soredia. Lower surface pale-ivory to dark-brown, with a darker marginal zone, smooth to minutely wrinkled, sparsely rhizinate from margins to centre. Rhizines simple. Medulla white. Apothecia to 10 mm diam., sessile, concave, disc dark-brown; thalline exciple thin, inrolled, crenulate to lacerate. Hymenium to 45 μm tall. Asci 30–33 × 12–16 μm. Ascospores ellipsoidal, thick-walled 8–12 × 5–7 μm. Pycnidia globose, immersed, black, slightly raised. Conidia straight to slightly curved, 6–8 × 1 μm.

Chemistry : Thallus K−; medulla K+ yellow or K+ yellow→red, C−, KC−, Pd+ orange; containing norstictic, ±salazinic, connorstictic, ±constipatic, ±protoconstipatic and usnic acids.

S: Marlborough, Canterbury (Hilltop, Banks Peninsula, Mackenzie Country), Otago (Lindis River near Cluden, Glendhu Bluff Lake Wanaka, Lochar Burn Scenic Reserve, Cromwell, Alexandra, Butcher's Dam, Waikouaiti Reservoir). On schist rocks, also on basalt. Known also from Australia (Filson 1984b; Elix et al. 1986b; Elix 1994s; Kantvilas et al. 2002; McCarthy 2003c, 2006).

Australasian

Illustrations : Galloway (1981a: 537, fig. 6 – as Xanthoparmelia hypoclystoides); Filson (1984b: 204, fig. 1); Elix (1994s: 238, fig. 96C); Kantvilas et al. (2002: 7).

Xanthoparmelia elixii is characterised by: the saxicolous habit; the loosely to moderately adnate thallus; the pale lower surface; development of narrower, sublinear-elongate laciniae which may become highly imbricate, building up the thallus into a thick mat; the presence of norstictic, connorstictic and salazinic (±) acids in the medulla. It resembles X. flavescentireagens in terms of its morphology but differs in having sparser rhizines, smaller ascospores and a different chemistry. The descriptions of X. hypoclystoidesauct. non (Müll.Arg.) Hale in Galloway (1981a: 536; 1985a: 612) are referable to X. elixii.