Menegazzia neozelandica
Synonyms
Menegazzia circumsorediata, Parmelia neozelandica, Parmelia nigrescens
Family
Parmeliaceae
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
Menegazzia neozelandica is a distinctive species in having sorediate perforations; soralia are rarely developed elsewhere on the thallus and are always few in number.
Distribution
North Island: Northland (Pandora) to Wellington. South Island: Nelson to Southland and Fiordland. Stewart Island. Chatham Islands: (Te Pukaha). Auckland Islands: (Ewing Island). Campbell Island. Antarctica.
Known also from Australia (western Tasmania), Argentina and Chile.
Habitat
Throughout, coastal and inland, on trees, shrubs and fenceposts, s.l. to 1200 m. In New Zealand this species has a wide ecological amplitude, being common in dry Leptospermum shrubland as well as in damp, forested areas close to and both E and W of the Main Divide.
Detailed description
Thallus forming regular or irregular, complete or partial rosettes or irregularly encircling twigs and then often fragmentary, loosely to closely attached, 3-5(-8) cm diam. Lobes few to numerous, 1-2 mm wide, often discrete at margins or intricately interwoven, zig-zag, often markedly contorted centrally, terminal lobes subdichotomously branched, margins notably sinuous-angular, not, or sparingly blackened, upper and lower surface of internal cavity white. Upper surface convex, occasionally where lobes are bunched forming ridges, glaucous or greyish, smooth, slightly glossy. Perforations numerous, rather regularly distributed, margins elevated and becoming sorediate, to 0.5 mm diam., in median line. Soralia mainly confined to and surrounding perforations, white, finely granular, rarely a few laminal and not associated with perforations. Apothecia rare, 2-8 mm diam., ± pedicellate often with ± crenulate and ± sorediate margins, disc brown, shining, subconcave to plane, epruinose, exciple slightly wrinkled, concolorous with thallus. Epithecium not granular. Asci 2-spored. Ascospores simple, oval to ovoid, 45-56 × 20-32 µm, wall 4-5 µm thick.
Chemistry: Medulla K+ yellow-orange, C−, KC+ orange, Pd+ orange; containing stictic, constictic, norstictic (tr.) and menegazziaic acids, atranorin (cortex) and accessory compounds.
Similar taxa
Menegazzia subpertusa has a similar thallus but this species has a duller, more corrugated surface and the soralia are mostly not associated with the perforations.
The Chilean species M. wandae Bjerke (Bjerke 2001) and the Tasmanian species M. kantvilasii P. James (James & Galloway 1992) differ from M. neozelandica in having pustulate soralia (not associated with laminal perforations) and different chemistries (thamnolic acid in M. wandae; stictic acid complex in M. kantvilasii).
Substrate
Corticolous, lignicolous (fenceposts)
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by Melissa Hutchison (15 March 2022). Brief description, Distribution, Habitat, Features and Similar taxa sections copied from Galloway (1985, 2007).
References and further reading
Bjerke J.W. 2001: A new sorediate species of Menegazzia (Parmeliaceae, lichenized Ascomycota) from Chile. Lichenologist 33: 117–120.
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.
James P.W. and Galloway D.J. 1992: Menegazzia. Flora of Australia 54: 213–246.