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Lichens (1985) - Flora of New Zealand Lichens
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Chaenotheca (Th.Fr.) Th.Fr.

CHAENOTHECA (Th. Fr.) Th. Fr., 1860

*Account prepared by Dr L. Tibell (Uppsala).

Thallus crustaceous, immersed, farinose, granular, verrucose or squamulose. Photobiont: Dictyochloropsis, Stichococcus, Trebouxia or Trentepohlia. Apothecia well-stalked, with a brown mazaedium. Capitulum spherical to obconical. Stalk and excipulum formed of dark brown or black, periclinally arranged, parallel hyphae. Excipulum ± well-developed. Asci dissolving at an early stage, cylindrical. Ascospores medium brown, spherical, ellipsoid or cylindrical, usually simple, rarely with 1-3(-5) septa, often with areolate to irregular ornamentation. Chemistry: Vulpinic acid often occurring as a prunia on the apothecia and in one species, in the thallus.

Key

1
Apothecia with yellow to reddish-yellow or reddish-brown pruina on lower side of capitulum
2
Apothecia with white pruina on lower side of capitulum, or epruinose
5
2
Mature spores at least in part ellipsoid to cylindrical
3
Mature spores always spherical
4
3
Thallus intense yellow
chrysocephala
Thallus greenish-grey or indistinct
carthusiae
4
Mature spores 5.0-7.6 µm diam.; apothecia 8-16 times as long as width of stalk; stalk not flexuous
hispidula
Mature spores 2.9-3.5 µm diam.; apothecia 11-38 times as long as width of stalk; stalk flexuous
degelii
5
Photobiont Stichococcus
6
Photobiont belonging in Chloroccocales
8
6
Thallus immersed; outer part of excipulum of anticlinally arranged, swollen hyphae
xyloxena
Thallus episubstratic; outer part of excipulum of irregularly intertwined, mainly periclinally arranged hyphae
7
7
Thallus thin, farinose, pale greenish to bluish-green; lower side of capitulum with a whitish to pale brownish hyphal web
stemonea
Thallus thin or usually rather thick, verrucose to squamulose, greenish-grey; lower side of capitulum without a hyphal web, but usually with faint, white pruina
trichialis
8
Thallus white or greyish white, often with yellow or red spots reacting K+ purple red; capitulum obconical; spores 5.6-7.7 µm diam.
ferruginea
Thallus immersed, rarely episubstratic, dull green, without yellow or red spots, capitulum spherical to lenticular; spores 3.4-4.6 µm diam.
brunneola

The Northern Hemisphere species, a majority of which also occur in New Zealand, were revised by Tibell. [ Symb. bot. upsal. 23 (1): 1-65 (1980).]

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