Notoparmelia testacea
Synonyms
Parmelia rudior (Nyl.) Zahlbr., Parmelia tenuirimis var. erimis Nyl.,Parmelia erimis (Nyl.) Hillmann, Parmelia signifera f. pallidior Zahlbr., Parmelia testacea Stirt.
Family
Parmeliaceae
Flora category
Lichen – Native
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Lichens - Foliose
Current conservation status
2018 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO
Brief description
Characterised by the corticolous habit; the adnate, sublinear to mostly subirregular lobes; marginal pseudocyphellae; the absence of soredia and isidia; the sparse to moderately dense rhizines that do not project beyond the lobe margins; small ascospores 11–15 × 7–10 μm; and the presence of salazinic acid with or without the presence of unidentified compound #27.
Distribution
North Island: Northland (Waipoua Forest) to Wellington. South Island: Nelson (Lake Rotoiti) to Southland (Manapouri). Stewart Island.
Known also from Tasmania.
Habitat
Widespread as an epiphyte of Fuscospora (on trunks and also on canopy twigs).
Detailed description
Thallus spreading, to 10 cm diam., loosely attached, corticolous. Lobes variable, often rather narrow (2-5 mm wide) and elongate, to short and rounded-imbricate, dichotomously to irregularly branched, often clustered, imbricate centrally, apices blunt, pointed or rounded, margins entire, often devoid of algae in a narrow, white band. Upper surface greenish-grey (often bluish-green in deep shade) smooth, shining, rather thin and fragile when dry, often maculate at margins and apices, pseudocyphellae not well-developed, mainly marginal, small, sparse and scattered. Lower surface black, wrinkled or smooth, shining, densely rhizinate. Rhizines black, squarrosely branched, often protruding beyond margins. Apothecia frequent, pedicellate, small (2-4 mm diam.), to large and lacerate-expanded (to 20 mm diam.), disc brown, pale and often maculate in shaded specimens, imperforate, margins entire to crenate-incised, thalline exciple strongly wrinkled to corrugate-verrucose and maculate, rather scabrid, often lacking algae, concolorous with thallus. Ascospores ellipsoid, 13-18 × 8.5-11 µm. Pycnidia numerous, scattered, reddish-black, immersed, punctiform.
Chemistry: Cortex K+ yellow; medulla K+ yellow→red or K−, C−, Pd+ orange; containing atranorin, chloroatranorin, salazinic acid (major), consalazinic acid (minor) with or without unidentified compound #27.
Similar taxa
Externally it is indistinguishable from N. subtestacea, which has echinocarpic acid rather than salazinic acid as the major medullary compound.
Substrate
Corticolous
Etymology
testacea: From the Latin ‘testa’ tile, referring to either the hard quality of something or its yellow-brown colour like that of terracotta.
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by Marley Ford (1 February 2023). Brief description, Distribution, Habitat, and Features sections copied from Galloway (1985) & 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.