Ramalina peruviana
Family
Ramalinaceae
Flora category
Lichen – Native
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Lichens - Fruticose
Current conservation status
2018 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO
Brief description
Characterised by the corticolous (occasionally saxicolous) habit; the dense, irregular, branching pattern; branches flattened at base, subterete to terete towards apices; punctiform soralia with small fibrils; and sekikaic acid in the medulla.
Distribution
Kermadec Islands: Raoul Island. North Island: Northland (Three Kings Islands, Great Barrier Island) to Auckland, the Waikato and Bay of Plenty. South Island: Marlborough (Stephens Island), Otago (Silver Peaks – this record is doubtful). Chatham Islands: (Wharekauri).
Known also from the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America, the Galapagos Islandss, Hawai’i, New Caledonia, Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island, Tahiti, the Bonin Islands, Java, the Phillipines, Japan, Australia, East Africa and Tristan da Cunha.
Habitat
Most commonly collected from trees and shrubs (occasionally also on rocks) in northern coastal forest. It is known from the following phorophytes: Avicennia marina subsp. australasica, Dacrycarpus dacrydioides, Kunzea sp., Leptospermum scoparium agg., Meryta sinclairii, Metrosideros excelsa, Lophozonia menziesii [a single specimen was collected from silver beech in the Painted Forest, Silver Peaks in 1933 by J.S. Thomson (CHR) – it has however, not been re-located in this area subsequently], Pittosporum crassifolium and Rhopalostylis baueri var. cheesemanii.
Detailed description
Thallus erect, shrubby, 2-4(-8) cm tall, densely and intricately branched, corticolous. Branches greenish-grey, solid, flattened, becoming terete or subterete towards apices, 0.1-0.9(-1.5) mm wide, weakly striate or ridged or subfenestrate in basal parts, sorediate. Soralia mainly marginal, rarely laminal, often ± knobbly-protuberant, eroded, punctiform, 0.05-0.6(-1.2) mm wide, often giving rise to minute branchlets which are deformed or granular, soredia farinose, white or greenish. Apothecia rare, marginal, lateral; dusc 0.4-2.7 mm diameter, concave to plane, often incised; ascospores narrow, fusiform, straight or rarely curved, (9.5-)14.5-17 (-23) X 3-6 microns.
Chemistry: Medulla K+ pink; containing usnic, homosekikaic, seki-kaic, ramalinolic, 4’-O-demethylsekikaic, 4’-O-methylnorsekikaic, and ±4’-O-methylnorhomosekikaic acids.
Similar taxa
In some cases, R. peruviana can be confused with either R. australiensis or R. pacifica. Microscope examination of soralia or chemical tests easily differentiate between these species.
Substrate
Corticolous, saxicolous
Etymology
ramalina: Meaning small branches, twiggy.
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by Marley Ford (1 May 2022). Brief description, Distribution, Habitat, and Features sections copied from Blanchon (1996), Galloway (1985) & Galloway (2007).
References and further reading
Blanchon D.J, Braggins J.E, and Stewart A. 1996: The lichen genus Ramalina in New Zealand. The Journal of the Hattori Botanical Laboratory 79: 43-98.
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.