Ramalina australiensis
Synonyms
Ramalina myrioclada, Ramalina allanii
Family
Ramalinaceae
Flora category
Lichen – Native
Endemic taxon
Indeterminate
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Lichens - Fruticose
Current conservation status
2018 | Not Threatened
Brief description
Characterised by the corticolous/saxicolous habit; long, narrow branches with denser branching towards apices; apothecia, when present, lateral; no chondroid strands in the medulla; and no secondary compounds in the medulla.
Distribution
Kermadec Islands: (Raoul Island) North Island: Northland to Coromandel Peninsula and Bay of Plenty (Whale Island).
Common on northern offshore islands, with single records from Feilding and Wellington Harbour.
Known also from eastern Australia where it is found in coastal sites from southern Queensland to New South Wales, from Hawai’i, the Galapagos Islands, Guam and Norfolk Island.
Habitat
Mainly on bark of Metrosideros excelsa and Avicennia marina subsp. australasica, occasionally also on Agathis australis, Kunzea and Pseudopanax. On offshore islands and coastal headlands R. australiensis also grows on rock (including andesite and greywacke).
Detailed description
Thallus erect to pendulous, to 12 cm rarely to 20 cm long, corticolous. Branches rigid, yellowish-green to greyish, angular-terete to slightly flattened, longitudinally striate-nervose, exposing white medulla, or cracked, shortly branched, narrow, 1.5 mm wide at base tapering to 0.5 mm wide at apices, lateral branches narrower, numerous, irregularly divided, subterete, apices finely flexed or bent, without pseudocyphellae or soredia, longitudinally ridged or grooved near base. Apothecia rare, lateral, sessile, plane, 0.9 mm diam., disc pale yellowish-pink, epruinose, margins thin, entire, concolorous with thallus, thalline exciple smooth. Ascospores oblong, 12-15 × 4-6 µm.
Chemistry: Usnic acid.
Similar taxa
Differs from R. meridionalis by the thallus being more densely branched at apices, many of the secondary branches at being right angles to main branches and the K- medulla.
Substrate
Corticolous, occasionally saxicolous
Etymology
ramalina: Meaning small branches, twiggy.
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by Marley Ford (19 February 2022). Brief description, Distribution, Habitat, Features, and Similar taxa 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.