Flora of New Zealand Series

Thallus orbicular, small, 2-5 cm diam. Lobes ± cochleate, clustered, margins entire, sinuous, to ± ascending and ± pectinate, tinged brownish. Upper surface glabrous, matt or glossy, pale greyish-green suffused brownish at margins, sorediate. Soralia laminal and marginal, at first rounded, 1.0 mm diam., eroding and becoming confluent, soredia granular, coarse, bluish. Lower surface pale buff, ± uniformly buff-tomentose, veins inapparent, rhizines pale, scattered, short, fasciculate. Apothecia not seen. Chemistry: Gyrophoric acid (C+ red).

S: Nelson (St Arnaud Ra.) to Canterbury (Mt Cook). Alpine-subalpine on soil or amongst mosses in grasslands above treeline, though still poorly collected and probably more widely distributed in upland areas in New Zealand.

Pantropical