Pyrenula nitidula
Synonyms
Verrucaria dealbata C.Knight, Verrucaria glabrata var. cinereoalba C.Knight, Verrucaria inflata Stirt., Pyrenula cinereoglauca Zahlbr., Pyrenula dealbata (C.Knight) Müll.Arg.
Family
Pyrenulaceae
Flora category
Lichen – Native
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Lichens - Crustose
Current conservation status
2018 | Not Threatened
Brief description
Characterised by the corticolous habit; the whitish thallus; prominent black perithecia; and 3-septate ascospores, (15–)17–22(–25) × (8.5–)10–12 μm.
Distribution
North Island: Northland to Wellington. South Island: Otago (Port Chalmers).
Habitat
Lowland and coastal on twigs of shrubs in open situations.
Detailed description
Thallus epi- or endophloeodal, greyish-white, pale greenish-white to yellowish-white, or ± lacking of effuse, matt or slightly roughened, often ± waxy, continuous or irregularly to coarsely areolate-cracked, in irregular patches, 1-5(-8) cm diam., delimited at margins by a narrow, irregular, black line. Perithecia frequent and conspicuous, emergent, 0.5-1.8 mm diam., discrete, rarely 2-3- confluent, rounded, flattish to distinctly convex, subglobose and even slightly constricted at base in specimens where cortex is eroded or lacking, pale whitish at first, obscured by a thin covering of cortical cells, then black, matt or shining, sometimes eroding and leaving small pits. Ostiole central, depressed, gaping or papillate. Pycnidia minute, black, punctiform, scattered. Ascospores uniseriate, oblong-ovoid, lemon-shaped, (15.3-)17-22(-25) × (8.3-)10.2-11.9 µm.
Chemistry: Cortex K+ yellow-dirty brown. TLC-.
Substrate
Corticolous
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by Marley Ford (14 January 2024). 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.