Megalospora pauciseptata
Synonyms
Austroblastenia pauciseptata, Heterothecium pauciseptatum, Lopadium pauciseptatum
Family
Megalosporaceae
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/saxicolous habit; greyish white or whitish verrucose thallus with scattered, capitate soralia; prominent, large, brownish or dark red-brown, convex, waxy apothecial discs with a thin, pale margin; and 3-septate ascospores (34–40 × 14–20 μm) that have thick, transverse septa.
Distribution
North Island: Auckland (Anawhata), South Auckland (Moehau, Coromandel Peninsula; Te Aroha), Gisborne (Mt Hikurangi), Taranaki (Mt Taranaki) to Wellington. South Island: Nelson (Mt Cobb, Cobb Lake, Mt Aorere, Dun Mt, Mt Glasgow, Mt Rochfort, Springs Junction), Westland (Lake Mahinapua, Fox Glacier), Southland (Wilmot Pass, Percy Saddle). Stewart Island: (Tin Range, Noble Island Port Pegasus).
Also in Tasmania Australia.
Habitat
On bark and lignum of Dracophyllum traversii, Griselinia littoralis, Libocedrus bidwillii, Phyllocladus asplenifolius ssp. alpinus [Phyllocladus alpinus], Rhopalostylus sapida, rarely on rock. Common in stunted podocarp forest in wetter western areas, less commonly on Nothofagus solandri var. cliffortioides [Fuscoscpora cliffortioides], 500–1000 m.
Detailed description
Thallus pale grey to whitish-grey, usually rather thick and cracked, wrinkled to verrucose, verrucae 0.4-0.8 mm diam., often bursting and developing superficial or capitate soralia. Soredia 20-40 µm diam. Isidia absent. Apothecia scattered, 0.7-3.5 mm diam., disc plane, becoming convex with age, brown or dark-brown, epruinose, glossy, margins ± prominent in young fruits, rather thin, slightly darker than disc or paler than disc, entire, becoming flexuose in older fruits. Epithecium orange-brown, diffuse, 15-20 µm thick. Hymenium 120-160 µm tall, I+ reddish. Ascospores (4-)8 per ascus, 3-septate, straight or curved, 35-40 × 16-19 µm.
Chemistry: Thallus K−, C−, KC−, Pd+ orange; containing pannarin and zeorin.
Substrate
Corticolous, rarely saxicolous
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by Melissa Hutchison (19 January 2022). Brief description, Distribution, Habitat, and Features 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.