Pseudocyphellaria maculata
Family
Peltigeraceae
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 a loose straggling habit (especially in alpine grassland); linear-elongate, dichotomously branching lobes with entire margins that are dotted with minute, yellow pseudocyphellae; a conspicuously faveolate upper surface with a well-defined reticulate pattern of white maculae (×10 lens), and lacking isidia, phyllidia pseudocyphellae and soredia; and a complex chemistry of depsidones, a hopane-triol, and a range of depsidones including salazinic and galbinic acids, compounds rarely found in species of Pseudocyphellaria in New Zealand. Specimens from shaded habitats are larger, paler in colour and thinner in texture than specimens from exposed habitats, which tend to be more coriaceous and strongly red-brown in colour.
Distribution
North Island: Hawke’s Bay (Kuripapango). South Island: North West Nelson to Otago (Maungatua). Close to and East of the Main Divide.
Known also from Irian Jaya and Papua New Guinea.
Habitat
In subalpine grasslands or on successional shrubs in areas modified by fire, 300 – 1,200 m. Most commonly found at the bases of tussocks or beneath alpine shrubs or herbs.
Detailed description
Thallus irregularly spreading, (2-)5-15 cm diam., loosely attached, corticolous. Lobes ± linear-elongate, subcanaliculate to plane, subdichotomously to irregularly or complexly branched, 1-10 mm wide and 0.5-5 cm long, margins entire, slightly thickened, occasionally ± ascending, rarely subdenticulate with raised, yellow pseudocyphellae. Upper surface shallowly to deeply faveolate, interconnecting ridges smoothly rounded or sharp, dark grey-blue when wet and conspicuously white-maculate in well-defined patterns (×10 lens), pale greyish or greenish-grey to greyish-buff when dry, sometimes suffused reddish- brown in parts, matt or slightly shining, often irregularly cracked, minutely scabrid-areolate in parts. Medulla white. Photobiont blue-green. Lower surface pale whitish-buff, distinctly wrinkled-bullate, ± evenly tomentose to margins, tomentum thin, silky, short, white or buff, thicker and darker (becoming brown) centrally. Pseudocyphellae minute, bright yellow, round, 0.05-0.3 mm diam., scattered, slightly raised above tomentum, decorticate area plane, margins not prominent. Apothecia marginal or submarginal, subpedicellate, 0.5-3.5 mm diam., plane to shallowly convex-undulate, disc in young stages obscured by margins, at maturity dark red-brown to black, matt, epruinose, margins denticulate, pale buff or flesh-coloured, often obscured by disc, exciple corrugate-scabrid, buff or pale flesh-coloured. Ascospores biseriate, brown, mainly polaribilocular, occasionally 3-septate, 20-30.6 × 8.3-10.2 µm. Pycnidia occasional to frequent, scattered, black, punctiform, minute.
Chemistry: Methyl evernate (tr.), tenuiorin, methyl lecanorate (tr.), methyl gyrophorate, evernic acid (tr.), gyrophoric acid (tr.), hopane-6α,7β,22-triol, norstictic (tr.), salazinic, consalazinic, galbinic acids, pulvinic acid, pulvinic dilactone and calycin.
Similar taxa
It is separated from P. crassa by the pale, thinly tomentose, bullate lower surface, from P. crocata by the absence of soredia and from P. neglecta by the absence of marginal phyllidia.
Until recently it was believed that P. lechleri was restricted to southern South America; material previously reported from New Zealand (Galloway 1985) was subsequently referred to P. maculata. However, phylogenetic data suggest that P. maculata may be conspecific (Lücking et al. 2017), which would result in a temperate Southern Hemisphere (austral) distribution when recognizing a single species. Both P. lechleri and P. maculata are reported as mostly terrestrial in open grasslands and more rarely as epiphytes (Galloway 2007). For P. lechleri, Galloway (1992) observed a predominantly terrestrial growth in the more southern, open grasslands, whereas in the more northern Fuscospora forests, the species is commonly found on mossy logs and tree bases and rarely as epiphyte.
A single specimen identified as Pseudocyphellaria maculata from New Zealand clusters with South American P. lechleri, with identical ITS sequences. Pseudocyphellaria maculata was originally distinguished from P. lechleri on rather subtle characters, such as supposedly flat lobes with shallower ridges, a thinner tomentum of the lower surface, and the epiphytic as opposed to terrestrial growth habit. However, P. maculata was later reported as commonly growing terricolous (Galloway 1985, 2007), and its described morphological variation is similar to that of P. lechleri, in particular the distinctly faveolate thallus. Galloway (2007) maintains several differences between the two taxa, including narrower lobes and the presence of galbinic and salazinic acid in P. maculata. Considering that the sequenced material of P. maculata from New Zealand was identified by Galloway, it is tempting to conclude that the proposed differences might not hold up and the two names best be synonymized. However, we refrain from doing so until a larger number of specimens from New Zealand has been studied. Notably, a recently collected sorediate specimen from New Zealand also clusters phylogenetically with the apotheciate P. maculata.
Substrate
Terricolous
Etymology
maculata: From Latin ‘macula’ blotch, meaning blotchy
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by Marley Ford (6 August 2021). Brief description, Distribution, Habitat, Features and Similar taxa sections copied from Galloway (1985, 2007) and Lücking et al. (2017).
References and further reading
Galloway D.J. 1985: Flora of New Zealand: Lichens. Wellington: PD Hasselberg, Government Printer. 662 pp.
Galloway D. J. 1992: Studies in Pseudocyphellaria (lichens) III. The South American species. Bibliotheca Lichenologica 46: 1-275.
Galloway D.J. 2007: Flora of New Zealand: Lichens, including lichen-forming and lichenicolous fungi. 2nd edition. Lincoln, Manaaki Whenua Press. 2261 pp.
Lücking R., Moncada B., McCune B., Farkas E., Goffinet B., Parker D., Chaves J.L., Lőkös L., Nelson P.R., Spribille T. and Stenroos S. 2017: Pseudocyphellaria crocata (Ascomycota: Lobariaceae) in the Americas is revealed to be thirteen species, and none of them is P. crocata. The Bryologist, 120(4): 441-500.