Erioderma sorediatum
Common name
Mouse ears
Family
Pannariaceae
Flora category
Lichen – Native
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Lichens - Foliose
Current conservation status
2018 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: SO, Sp
Brief description
Characterised by the corticolous habit; the small, incurling lobes, exposing the white lower surface (becoming sulphur yellow on storage in the herbarium); and the marginal, bluish, limbiform soralia.
Distribution
North Island: Northland (Three Kings Islands, Radar Bush, Te Huka, Waipoua Forest, Kawerua, Waitangi, Tangihau Forest, Bay of Islands, Mt Auckland, Whangarei, Tutukaka, Tapu Bush N. Kaipara, Lady Alice Island, Little Barrier Island, Great Barrier Island), Auckland (Waitakere Ranges, Rangitoto Island), South Auckland (Hunua Ranges, Mt Maungatawhiri Coromandel Peninsula, Motuhora Island, Rotorua, Mangaotaki Valley King Country, Te Kauri Scenic Reserve Otorohanga), Wellington (Whariti Peak Ruahine Range, Rimutaka Ranges). South Island: Nelson (Lake Rotoiti, Lake Rotoroa, Maruia River), Westland (Lake Kaniere, Whataroa River), Canterbury (Nina Valley, Boyle River), Otago (Chinaman Flat Dart Valley, Routeburn).
Habitat
Forest and shrubland. In moist, humid habitats, similar to those for E. leylandii. Known from the following phorophytes: Agathis australis, Knightia excelsa, Kunzea sp., Olearia furfuracea, Myrsine australis, Fuscospora cliffortioides, Phyllocladus trichomanoides, Weinmannia racemosa, rarely on twigs of Pinus insignis (Mt Tutamoe).
Detailed description
Thallus foliose, lobate, to 4 cm diam., corticolous. Lobes broad, to 5 mm wide, short, margins ascending sometimes strongly involute and crenate, developing prominent, bluish, limbiform soralia on the edges of the upturned lower surface, soredia coarse, granular, greyish-blue, often trapped on the tomentum of the upper surface and thus becoming spread superficially over the lobes. Upper surface greyish-brown, finely tomentose, tomentum rather variable in appearance and texture from a uniform, thin, whitish bloom to a long (12 mm), buff or yellowish, tangled or loosely-woven mat. Lower surface white or pale cream, not distinctly yellow, lower cortex and veins absent. Rhizines blue-black, simple to squarrosely branched, to 3 mm long, restricted to margins where they form small, dense tufts. Apothecia not seen.
Chemistry: Medulla Pd+ yellow-orange; containing eriodermin.
Similar taxa
It is distinguished from the superficially similar and commonly sympatric Leioderma sorediatum, which has arachnoid hairs and a negative reaction with Pd.
Substrate
Corticolous (bark and twigs)
Etymology
erioderma: woolly skin
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by Marley Ford and Melissa Hutchison (April 2021). Brief description, Distribution, Habitat, Features and Similar taxa sections copied from Galloway (1985) and 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.