Physcia tribacioides
Synonyms
Physcia tribacoides Nyl.
Family
Physciaceae
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: SO
Brief description
Characterised by the corticolous/saxicolous habit; the callus-like soralia; the crenate lobes; the paraplectenchymatous lower cortex with thick-walled cells; and atranorin and zeorin.
Distribution
North Island: Northland (Waitiki Stream, Little Barrier Island), South Auckland (Motuhora/Whale Island). Rarely collected in New Zealand from northern, and offshore islands habitats.
Known also from Great Britain, southern and western Europe, the Azores, East and South Africa, Socotra, Japan, the Philippines, Argentina, and Australia.
Earlier records of P. tribacoides from New Zealand (Galloway 1985a: 395) refer to P. poncinsii.
Habitat
On exposed rock faces at sea level and on bark of māhoe (Melicytus ramiflorus).
Substrate
Corticolous, saxicolous
There has been confusion over the correct spelling of the species epithet, with up to 15% of sources worldwide using the (presumably incorrect) spelling P. tribacoides (GBIF 2023). This spelling was used by Galloway (2007) and de Lange et al. (2018), but we have adopted the more widely accepted spelling here.
Attribution
Fact sheet created by Melissa Hutchison (8 October 2023). Brief description, Distribution, Habitat, Features, and Similar taxa sections copied from Galloway (2007).
References and further reading
Galloway D.J. 2007: Flora of New Zealand: Lichens, including lichen-forming and lichenicolous fungi. 2nd edition. Lincoln, Manaaki Whenua Press. 2261 pp.
GBIF 2023: Webpage for Physcia tribacioides. https://www.gbif.org/species/2608909. Date accessed: 8 October 2023.