Flora of New Zealand Series

Type : Cyphelium tigillare (Ach.) Ach. [=Lichen tigillaris Ach.]

Description : Flora (1985: 148).

Cyphelium, a widespread genus of c. 12 species (Tibell & Ryan 2004c), is accommodated in the family Caliciaceae and now included in the order Lecanorales (Tibell 1998b; Wedin & Tibell 1997; Wedin et al. 1998; Eriksson et al. 2004; Pennycook & Galloway 2004; Eriksson 2005). Cyphelium occurs mainly in the Northern Hemisphere (Tibell 1971, 1984b, 1987, 1996b, 1998a, 1999b, 2003; Tibell & Ryan 2004c), and at least some of the occurrences in the Southern Hemisphere may be the result of accidental introductions from the Northern Hemisphere. Species are found mainly on bark and lignum, but some species grow on rocks in shaded habitats and a few species are parasites or parasymbionts of other lichens, particularly on species of Pertusaria. Cyphelium in a traditional sense is not monophyletic (Tibell 2003). One species is known from New Zealand where it has a rather restricted occurrence on lignum (old fenceposts).