Lecanora carpinea
Synonyms
Lichen carpineus
Family
Lecanoraceae
Flora category
Lichen – Native
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Lichens - Crustose
Current conservation status
2018 | Not Threatened | Qualifiers: SO
Brief description
Characterised by the corticolous habit; the grey-white thallus, the crowded apothecia with grey-white-pruinose discs that react yellow-orange with C.
Distribution
North Island. South Island.
Known also from Great Britain, Scandinavia, Europe, Asia, North America and Australia.
Habitat
Throughout and extremely common and widespread on twigs and branches of lowland, mainly deciduous, introduced trees in parks, gardens and orchards, riverbanks. Often the dominant crustose lichen on alders, willows, poplars, and fruit trees and probably the most common corticolous species of Lecanora in New Zealand. It appears to be able to withstand moderate to heavy pollution loads in urban habitats. It is a very common pioneer lichen on the smooth bark of deciduous trees and shrubs and one of the earliest colonisers of young twigs.
Lecanora carpinea is parasitised by several lichenicolous fungi including Arthonia galactinaria, Chaenothecopsis hospitans, Lichenoconium lecanorae, Lichenodiplis lecanorae, Sphaerellothecium propinquellum, Unguiculariopsis thallophila and these should be searched for in New Zealand populations.
Detailed description
Thallus white or grey-white, continuous, smooth, somewhat cracked with age centrally, delimited by a marginal white prothallus. Apothecia 0.5–1(–1.5) mm diam., sessile, constricted at base, crowded centrally; thalline exciple prominent, persistent, entire, occasionally excluded with age; discs pale reddish brown to creamish or purplish, plane to convex, densely grey-white-pruinose. Epithecium granular, pale yellow-brown, the granules dissolving in K. Hymenium colourless, 45–65 μm tall. Hypothecium colourless. Asci clavate, 55–70 × 14–18 μm. Ascospores subglobose to ellipsoidal, (9–)10–12(–14) × (5–)6–8 μm.
Chemistry: Thallus K+ yellow, C−, Pd−; apothecial disc C+ yellow to orange; containing atranorin and the chromone sordidone (C+ yellow) as major compounds; chloroatranorin and eugenitol as minor compounds
Similar taxa
It is distinguished from L. caesiorubella by the smaller, more crowded apothecia with thinner apothecial margins, and the C+ yellow reaction of the apothecial discs.
Substrate
Corticolous
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by Marley Ford (28 December 2021). 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.