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Physcia caesia

Acheron River, Canterbury.<br>Photographer: Melissa Hutchison, Date taken: 07/03/2020, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>

Magnet Bay, Banks Peninsula, Canterbury.<br>Photographer: Melissa Hutchison, Date taken: 21/08/2020, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>

Port Hills, Christchurch, Canterbury.<br>Photographer: Melissa Hutchison, Date taken: 10/11/2019, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>

Lance McCaskill Reserve, Canterbury.<br>Photographer: Melissa Hutchison, Date taken: 26/02/2021, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>

Magnet Bay, Banks Peninsula.<br>Photographer: Melissa Hutchison, Date taken: 21/08/2020, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>

Castle Rock, Port Hills, Christchurch, Canterbury.<br>Photographer: Melissa Hutchison, Date taken: 09/08/2020, Licence: <a target='_blank' href='https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0'>CC BY-NC</a>. <a class='member-message' href='/nzpcn/why-join-nzpcn/' target='_blank'>Members can view a larger version of this image.</a>

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Common names

blue-grey rosette lichen

Biostatus

Native

Current conservation status

2018 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO

Structural class

Lichens - Foliose

Lichen substrates

Saxicolous (rock), Artificial (glass, concrete, plastic, brick)

Substrate details

Saxicolous, artificial surfaces (concrete fenceposts, curbs, bridges, gravestones, asphalt footpaths)

Detailed taxonomy

Genus

Physcia

Family

Physciaceae

Authority

Physcia caesia (Hoffm.) Fürnr.

Synonyms

Lichen caesius

Endemic taxon

Endemic genus

Endemic family

Other information

Ecological notes

Specimens from coastal habitats from Northland (Karikari Peninsula) to southern Stewart Island (Port Pegasus) are sometimes parasitised by the lichenicolous fungus *Polycoccum pulvinatum (Eitner) R.Sant. (Galloway et al. 1999), which is characterised by its distinctive laminal, erumpent galls on the upper surface of P. caesia, and its brown, 1-septate ascospores, (16–)17–20(–21) × 7–9 μm, the upper cell larger.

Referencing and citations

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.

Galloway D.J., Knight A., Johnson P.N. and Hayward B.W. 1999: Additional lichen records from New Zealand 30. Polycoccum galligenum new to New Zealand and the Southern Hemsiphere. Australasian Lichenology 45: 8-9.

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