Dirinaria aegialita
Synonyms
Parmelia aegialita Afz.
Family
Caliciaceae
Flora category
Lichen – Native
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Lichens - Foliose
Current conservation status
2018 | Data Deficient | Qualifiers: SO
Brief description
Characterised by the saxicolous (rarely corticolous) habit; closely attached thalli; irregularly divided lobes; characteristic, laminal, finger-like or clavate outgrowths (dactyls) splitting open at the apices and producing soredia.
Distribution
Kermadec Islands: Raoul Island (Denham Bay), on orange tree bark. North Island: Northland (Aorangi Island, Poor Knights Island), on shaded boulders, east side of Tatua Peak.
First collected in New Zealand by Bruce Hayward in 1984 (AK 172363). Recently found at Bream Head, Whangārei (M. Ford pers. comm. 2023).
Widespread in tropical areas.
Habitat
In New Zealand it has been found on orange tree bark and shaded boulders.
Widespread in tropical areas, where it is most commonly found on trees and shrubs and rarely on lava.
Detailed description
Thallus whitish to grey-white, to 10 cm diam., closely attached. Lobes irregularly divided, not confluent at apices, ±confluent centrally, flat to longitudinally wrinkled, white- pruinose at apices, sometimes with marginal pseudocyphellae 0.5–1.0 mm wide, 1–2 mm long. Soralia laminal, granular white, developing from ruptured apices of ±inflated, swollen dactyls (0.2–0.5 mm diam., to 0.7 mm tall). Medulla white. Lower surface corticate, black. Apothecia not seen.
Chemistry: Cortex K+ yellow; medulla K−, C−, KC−, Pd−; containing divaricatic acid, atranorin, triterpenoids and an ochraceous pigment (K+ purple) in lowest medullary layers.
Similar taxa
Similar in gross morphology to Dirinaria applanata, but that species never produces dactyls.
Substrate
Corticolous, saxicolous
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by Marley Ford (28 December 2023). Brief description, Distribution, Habitat, Features, and Similar taxa sections copied from Galloway (2007).
References and further reading
Galloway D.J. 2007: Flora of New Zealand: Lichens, including lichen-forming and lichenicolous fungi. 2nd edition. Lincoln, Manaaki Whenua Press. 2261 pp.