Loxospora cyamidia
Synonyms
Lecanora cyamidia, Lecanora cyrtospora, Lecanora ochrotropa, Sarrameana cyamidia
Family
Sarrameanaceae
Flora category
Lichen – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Lichens - Crustose
Current conservation status
2018 | Not Threatened
Brief description
Characterised by the corticolous habit; the dingy, creamish white to greyish, continuous to verrucose–papillate thallus; prominent scattered, sessile to subpedicellate apothecia with dark red-brown to somewhat blackened discs, densely covered in grey-white pruina and with persistent, swollen, lecanorine margins concolorous with thallus; the hymenium is inspersed with oil droplets; ascospores are fabiform, curved, apices curved, contents oily–granular, 20–30(–34) × 7–10(–13) μm.
Distribution
North Island: South Auckland (Pureora), to Wellington. South Island: Nelson (Mt Arthur, West Bay Lake Rotoiti), Marlborough (Queen Charlotte Sound), Canterbury (Avalanche Peak Arthur’s Pass, Hawdon River, Craigieburn Ranges), Otago (Lake Ohau, Mt Cargill, Maungatua, Lammermoor Ranges, Catlins). Stewart Island: (Port Pegasus). Auckland Islands: (Ranui Cove).
The record of L. cyamidia from Australia is referable to L. solenospora.
Habitat
Forming distinctive whitish bands or patches on the bark of forest trees and on subalpine scrub, s.l. to 1000 m, sometimes associating with Pyrrhospora laeta. Predominantly lowland and coastal, also inland, known from the following phorophytes: Carpodetus serratus, Dracophyllum longifolium, D. traversii, Melicytus ramiflorus, Metrosideros umbellata, Lophozonia menziesii, Fuscospora cliffortioides.
Detailed description
Thallus dingy grey-white to greenish-grey or creamish, continuous, minutely wrinkled, verrucose-papillate, papillae minute, subglobose, 0.1 mm diam., to minutely areolate-cracked, areolae separated by narrow cracks, 2-6 cm diam., sometimes delimited at margins by a narrow, black prothallus. Apothecia sessile or subpedicellate, round to irregular, scattered or crowded, 1.0-2.5 mm diam., disc plane to subconvex-irregular, dark red-brown or black, with a thin to dense grey-white pruina, margins persistent, conspicuous, concolorous with thallus or paler, entire to crenulate-verrucose. Epithecium red-brown, 15-17 µm thick. Hymenium pale yellow-brown, 50-130(-180) µm tall. Hypothecium pale brownish or colourless, 30-60 µm thick. Paraphyses filiform, dense, not capitate at apices. Asci clavate, 8-spored, with a prominent apical dimple. Ascospores spiral in ascus, biseriate, fabiform, curved, apices rounded, contents oily-granular, 20-30(-34) × 7-10.2(-13) µm.
Chemistry: Cortex K+ yellow, Pd−; containing thamnolic acid.
Similar taxa
Loxospora cyamidia is closely related to L. solenospora (the two taxa share an identical thallus chemistry and apothecial tissues inspersed with yellow-brown to red-brown granules that turn yellow as they dissolve in K). Ascospores of the two species are similar but distinctly and disjunctly broader in L. cyamidia, which also has a generally more robust thallus, larger apothecia with persistent pruina, and a distinctly lecanorine apothecial margin reminiscent of species of Ochrolechia.
Substrate
Corticolous