Degelia durietzii
Family
Pannariaceae
Flora category
Lichen – Native
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Lichens - Foliose
Current conservation status
2018 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO, Sp
Brief description
Characterised by the isidiate lobes; and the isidiate margins to the apothecia when present.
Distribution
North Island: Taranaki (Mt Taranaki), Wellington (E of Taumaranui, Erua Swamp, Mt Marchant, Mt Alpha, Mt Holdsworth Tararua Ranges). South Island: Nelson (Lake Rotoiti), Westland (Lake Kaniere), Canterbury (Nina Valley near Lewis Pass, Wilberforce Valley, Governor’s Bush, Mt Cook). Auckland Islands: (Port Ross, Erebus Cove, Laurie Harbour).
Known also from Tasmania and Fiji.
Habitat
Rather restricted in distribution, with an altitudinal range of 100–1500 m.
An epiphyte of Lophozonia menziesii, Fuscospora cliffortioides and Dracophyllum subulatum, either at treeline or in valley swamps or clearings in forested areas where rainfall is high and mist or fog frequent.
Detailed description
Thallus ± orbicular, loosely attached, to 7 cm diam. Lobes dark leaden grey to bluish-black when wet, pale grey to faint greyish-blue when dry, 0.3-0.7(-0.9) cm wide, adjacent to somewhat imbricate, broadly cuneate to flabellate, apices rounded, margins ± entire or variously notched or incised, ± deflexed. Upper surface matt, minutely wrinkled, uneven, in parts minutely scabrid, with transverse, concentric ridges, isidiate. Isidia concolorous with thallus, laminal and marginal, at first granular, becoming terete, mainly simple, occasionally weakly branching, 0.01-0.15 mm diam., to 1 mm long, sparse in young lobes, becoming crowded in older parts. Lower surface pale, densely rhizinate. Rhizines pale, sometimes becoming bluish-grey or blackish, rarely visible beyond lobe margins, complex, entangled or arranged in distinct lines. Apothecia sparse to frequent, to 1.5 mm diam., disc concave at first becoming plane or convex with age, usually pale brown, sometimes blackened or dark with age, proper margin distinct (at least in young apothecia) usually pale, sometimes dark with age, occasionally with small, white, basal, projecting hairs, fruits closely surrounded by a ring of granular to terete or partly flattened isidia, forming a ± lobulate thalline margin. Ascospores 11-15 × 5-8 µm.
Chemistry: TLC−, all reactions negative.
Similar taxa
Sterile thalli are difficult to distinguish from those of Coccocarpia palmicola, however the upper surface of the latter is often shining, rather thinner in texture, and less coriaceous.
Substrate
Corticolous (bark)
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by Marley Ford (23 December 2021). Brief description, Distribution, Habitat, Features, and Similar taxa sections copied from Galloway (1985) & Galloway (2007).
References and further reading
Galloway D.J. 1985: Flora of New Zealand: Lichens. Wellington: PD Hasselberg, Government Printer. 662 pp.
Galloway D.J. 2007: Flora of New Zealand: Lichens, including lichen-forming and lichenicolous fungi. 2nd edition. Lincoln, Manaaki Whenua Press. 2261 pp.