Megalospora pupa
Synonyms
Austroblastenia pupa
Family
Megalosporaceae
Flora category
Lichen – Native
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Lichens - Crustose
Current conservation status
2018 | Data Deficient | Qualifiers: SO
Brief description
Characterised by the corticolous habit; the thin, pale greenish grey to pale-grey thallus; apothecia with scattered, coarse whitish or greyish pruina on the pale orange-brown to reddish brown discs; and 4–8 highly distinctive, ovoid to subglobose, muriform ascospores, 45–80 × 23–32 μm (10–14 transverse septa and 43–5 vertical septa).
Distribution
North Island: Hawke’s Bay (Kuripapango). South Island: Nelson (Stockton Plateau), Westland (Otira), Southland (Cascade Cove, Dusky Sound).
Australasian. At the time of its description it was thought to be a New Zealand endemic, but it is now known from Tasmania, where it is one of the most common and widespread species of the Megalosporaceae.
Habitat
On bark in both podocarp and beech forest, s.l. to 1000 m.
Detailed description
Thallus pale grey to pale greenish-grey, thin, slightly wrinkled or smooth, occasionally thicker and cracked, soredia and isidia absent. Apothecia scattered 0.6-2.1 mm diam., disc consistently plane, brown, with scattered, coarse, whitish pruina, dull, margins prominent, narrow, black, epruinose, glossy. Epithecium pale yellow-orange or red-brown, diffuse, with a granular upper layer, 18-24 µm thick. Hymenium 180-250 µm tall, I+ dark blue. Ascospores 4-8 per ascus, ovoid to subglobose, straight, muriform, 45-80 × 23-32 µm (10-14 transverse septa and 4-5 vertical septa).
Chemistry: Thallus K−, C−, KC−, Pd+ orange; containing pannarin and zeorin.
Similar taxa
Most similar to Megalospora pauciseptata, but that species has 3-septate ascospores, whereas M. pupa has muriform ascospores.
Substrate
Corticolous
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by Melissa Hutchison (18 June 2023). 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.