Lecanora flavopallida
Synonyms
Lecanora flavopallescens C.Knight, Lecanora symmictoides Nyl., Lecidea aucklandica var. planata Zahlbr., Lecidea (Biatora) fineranii C.W.Dodge in B.A. Fineran, Ionaspis neozelandica C.W.Dodge.
Family
Lecanoraceae
Flora category
Lichen – Native
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Lichens - Crustose
Current conservation status
2018 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO
Brief description
Characterised by the corticolous habit; the pale orange to brown-pink apothecial discs, which may or may not have a thin grey-white pruina; broadly ellipsoidal ascospores, 14–19 × 9–12 μm; the presence of chlorinated xanthones (C+ orange); almost biatorine apothecia; and filiform conidia, 13–22 × 0.5–1 μm. It is a distinctive species that is rarely confused with other species of Lecanora. It is a rather variable species (hence the extensive synonymy), the variation being discussed in detail by Guderley et al. (1998).
Distribution
North Island: Northland (Three Kings Island, Kaitaia, Cooper’s Beach, Opua Bay of Islands, Whangarei, Great Barrier Island), Auckland (Anawhata, Rangitoto Island, Auckland City), South Auckland (Motuhora Island), to Wellington. South Island: Nelson to Southland. Stewart Island: (Port Pegasus, Broad Bay). Snares Islands. Common and widespread.
Also known in Australia from Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia.
Habitat
Throughout, on bark of mainly coastal trees and shrubs and on lignum (especially fenceposts, power poles etc.).
Detailed description
Thallus pale yellowish-green or greyish-green or whitish, often ± effuse and evanescent, minutely verrucose-uneven, granular, furfuraceous to ± continuous and irregularly rimose, matt or shining, in irregular patches 1-5 cm diam., delimited or not by a marginal black prothallus. Apothecia sessile (± subinnate on lignum), round to subirregular, solitary or 2-3-confluent and distorted through mutual pressure, 0.1-1.2(-1.5) mm diam., subconcave to plane to convex, disc pale to dark pinkish-brown with or without a thin, grey-white pruina, matt, margins persistent, pale flesh-coloured, entire to subcrenulate. Epithecium pale red-brown 10-14 µm thick. Hymenium colourless, 40-52 µm tall. Hypothecium pale yellowish 20-30 µm thick. Paraphyses simple, densely conglutinate, not thickened at apices. Ascospores oval, 17-22.1 × 10.2-15.3 µm, wall 1.7 µm thick.
Chemistry: Thallus K+ yellow, C+ orange. Major compounds: Arthothelin and thiophanic acid; minor compounds: ±atranorin, ±chloroatranorin, asemone and 4,5-dichloronorlichexanthone .
Similar taxa
At first sight it might be confused with a species of Bacidia, but is readily distinguished by the presence of non-septate ascospores.
Substrate
Corticolous, lignicolous
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by Marley Ford (15 February 2022). Brief description, Distribution, Habitat, Features, and Similar taxa sections copied from Galloway (1985, 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.
Guderley R., Lumbsch H.T., and Elix J.A. 1998: Lecanora flavopallida, a species of Lecanora sensu stricto with almost biatorine apothecia (Lecanorales). Bryologist 101: 103-108.