Calycidium cuneatum
Synonyms
Calycidiomyces cuneatus, Sphaerophorus cuneatus
Family
Sphaerophoraceae
Flora category
Lichen – Native
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Lichens - Foliose
Current conservation status
2018 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP, SO, Sp
Brief description
Characterised by the foliose thallus with marginal lobules or laciniae supporting several apothecia. The mazedium is also clearly brown in contrast to the black mazedium of species of Bunodophoron.
Distribution
North Island: South Auckland (Te Aroha, Pirongia), Taranaki (Mt Taranaki), Wellington (Mt Ruapehu, Rimutaka Ra.). South Island: Nelson (Peel Range, track from Cobb Reservoir to Lake Peel, Lake Rotoroa, Lake Rotoiti, Stockton Plateau, Lake Daniells Track Maruia Valley), Canterbury (Nina Valley S of Lewis Pass), Southland (Secretary Island, Oblong Hill, Lake Hauroko, Purakino Valley). Stewart Island: Port Pegasus. Chatham Islands. Auckland Islands.
Habitat
On tree bark and roots, especially those of Fuscospora fusca (between buttresses), or mossy rocks in moderate to deep shade, 450–800 m.
Detailed description
Thallus foliose, heteromerous, lobate, dorsiventral, to 4 cm diam. Lobes broad, rounded, flattened, margins entire, sinuous, often ± ascending. Photobiont green, Protococcaceae. Apothecia marginal on small lobules, mazaedium well-developed, surrounded by a narrow thalline margin. Asci cylindrical, thin-walled containing 8 irregularly arranged spores. Ascospores simple, spherical to irregularly ellipsoid, brown at maturity.
Chemistry: K−, C−, KC−, Pd−, UV−; containing sphaerophorin and an unidentified major compound, possibly a xanthone.
Similar taxa
It differs from Calycidium polycarpum in forming larger patches on trunks, and in having more distinctly incised lobes, which give a somewhat stiped appearance to the apothecia. Apothecia are also smaller than those of C. polycarpum, the ascospores are slightly, but significantly, smaller than in this latter species, and the chemistry of sphaerophorin as major metabolite is distinctive.
Substrate
Corticolous (bark and roots), saxicolous (mossy rocks)
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by Melissa Hutchison (25 August 2021). 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.