Trapeliopsis congregans
Synonyms
Lecidea congregans, Phyllopsora congregans
Family
Trapeliaceae
Flora category
Lichen – Native
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Lichens - Crustose
Current conservation status
2018 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO
Brief description
Characterised by the corticolous habit; the greenish, squamulose, microphylline thallus and the prominent, often confluent, rust-red or red-brown, conglomerate apothecia, which make a vivid contrast to the greenish thallus.
Distribution
North Island: South Auckland (Hunua Ranges, Mamaku), Gisborne, (Lake Waikaremoana), Taranaki (N Egmont) to Wellington. South Island: Nelson (Mt Aorere, St Arnaud Ranges, Mt Zetland, Flora Saddle, Maruia Springs), Marlborough (Mt Stokes, Mt Furneaux), Canterbury (Arthur’s Pass, Boyle River), Otago (Dart Valley, Rees Valley, Mt Cargill, Catlins), Southland (Grebe Valley). Stewart Island.
Known also from New South Wales, Tasmania, Chile, and Argentina.
Habitat
On rotting logs and decaying stumps in humid, low-light habitats; often found on decaying stumps in Nothofagus [Fuscospora and Lophozonia] forests.
Detailed description
Thallus microphylline, subsquamulose, squamules crowded, ± imbricate, pale grey-green to yellow-green or dark olive or green in shaded sites, continuous, spreading, to 10 cm diam., but generally much less, on rotting logs. Apothecia rarely solitary, congested, confluent, irregular, to 5 mm diam., rusty red-brown, margins thin, pale, undulate-irregular. Ascospores 8 per ascus, biseriate, ellipsoid, apices narrowly rounded, straight, 11-12 × 6 µm.
Substrate
Corticolous (rotting stumps and logs)
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by Melissa Hutchison (19 January 2022). 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.