Flora of New Zealand Series

Parmelia foraminulosa Krempelh., Verhandl. zool.-bot. Ges. Wien 26: 451 (1876).

Holotype: New Zealand. Sine loco (prob. Wellington). Charles Knight 117, M!

Thallus ± closely attached, mostly forming extended, irregular patches or rosettes, often encircling twigs, to 10 cm diam., often much smaller and fragmentary, seldom forming extensive colonies, texture rather tough and unyielding, corticolous or muscicolous. Lobes rather variable (2-)3-3.5 mm wide, marginal lobes irregularly branched, rarely subpalmate, contiguous, weakly divergent, without interhalline spaces, becoming contorted and disorientated centrally through development of numerous, imbricate lateral lobes, not, or sparingly branched at their edges, apices concolorous, often suffused red-brown, hollow, upper side of internal cavity with a ± dense, pale yellow or ochre-yellow tomentum, sometimes absent or confined to near tips. Upper surface plane in part or ± convex, ± shining, lobe ends occasionally with ± distinct, fine mosaic of white maculae, smooth or ± ridged rugulose, pale grey-green, often paler at tips, without isidia or soredia. Perforations frequent to rather sparse, scattered, median on main lobes, ± gaping, rim depressed (pertransita -type), plane or slightly elevated, often ± low-conical. Apothecia numerous, scattered or sometimes 2-4-contiguous, to 4 mm diam., adnate or subpedicellate, disc concave at first becoming ± plane at maturity, faintly rugose, red-brown to dark brown, epruinose, margins rather thick, persistent, regular or somewhat angular, smooth, shining at first, becoming reticulate-white-maculate-scabrid, rarely pectinate-striate. Epithecium dark red-brown, colour in gelatinous matrix and in apices of paraphyses, granules absent. Hymenium 160-180 µm tall. Asci 100-130 × 40-48 µm, ± cylindrical to elongate-ellipsoid, 8-spored. Ascospores ellipsoid to ovoid, 34-39 × 21-23 µm, wall 2 µm thick. Chemistry: Atranorin (cortex), stictic, constictic (±) and echinocarpic acids with four or more UV+ orange-yellow pigments and one UV+ orange-red pigment; medulla K+ orange, C-, KC+ orange, Pd+ orange.

N: South Auckland (Te Aroha) to Wellington. S: Nelson to Fiordland, west of Main Divide and eastwards in Canterbury, Otago and Southland. St: (Mt Anglem). Lowland to subalpine, on bark of trees and shrubs.

Endemic

M. foraminulosa is distinguished from other species in the genus by having ochre-yellow pigmentation of the tomentum on the upper side of the internal cavity, stictic and echinocarpic acids and pigments in the medulla, 8-spored asci and swollen, pigmented apical cells in the paraphyses. The faintly white-maculate lobe ends which are ± flattened are also characteristic for the species. M. caliginosa is its sorediate counterpart.