Tuatara: Volume 2, Issue 2, July 1949
A Key to the Stictaceae of New Zealand
A Key to the Stictaceae of New Zealand
The family is well represented in New Zealand, with a great range of forms, and the species limits are often obscure. No settled agreement has been reached by specialists and the present tentative key tries to steer a middle course between lumping and splitting. It has not been adequately tested in the field and criticisms from users would be welcome. Some of the rarer species are not keyed. A key to the groups recognised in the family was given on page 25 of “Tuatara,” Vol. 1, No. 3, and for the most part there is no difficulty in placing a specimen in its correct group.
The ecology of our species has been but little studied, partly owing to the lack of a satisfactory taxonomic treatment. The species are mainly forest members, epiphytic on trees and shrubs, and so far as is known showing little selective preference as to hosts. One of the most handsome and most common species is Sticta coronata, often attaining a foot or more across (fig. 34). The green upper surface, often with purplish patches, contrasts, especially in the wet condition, with the golden yellow undersurface. S. flotowiana (fig. 49) is also abundant, pale slaty grey when dry, with narrow deeply foveolate lobes. Similar is S. impressa (fig. 35) but with a blue-green algal constituent. The two stalked species S. filix (fig 32) and S. latifrons (fig. 48 represents a narrow-lobed form) are also frequent. S. psilophylla (fig. 51) is one of the commonest of the species bearing isidia, and S. aurata (fig. 50) with richly coloured surface is very striking with its copious golden soralia. It is often found on manuka.
In tussock-grassland the most commonly met with species is S. flavicans (with rather delicate thallus, yellowish when dry) but it is not confined to this habitat. On rocks S. crocata and S. mougeotiana (fig. 42) with dark coloured thalli and usually copious development of yellow soredia are often abundant.
Miss Adams has again kindly supplied drawings of a number of species. Reference to figures preceding fig. 42 are to those in “Tuatara,” Vol. 1, No. 3, where a glossary of technical terms may also be found.
1 | Thallus lacking both cyphellae and pseudocyphellae (Lobaria) | 2 |
Thallus bearing either cyphellae or pseudocyphellae (Sticta) | 3 | |
2 | Gonidia blue-green, thallus dark when wet | L. verrucosa |
Gonidia green, thallus bright green when wet (fig. 36) | L. adscripta | |
3 | Gonidia blue-green, thallus dark when wet | 4 |
Gonidia green, thallus bright green when wet | 15 | |
4 | Thallus under-surface bearing pseudocyphellae (Fig. 6) | 5 |
Thallus under-surface bearing cyphellae (fig. 5) | 13 | |
5 | Pseudocyphellae yellow | 6 |
Pseudocyphellae white | 8 |
6 | Thallus lacking isidia or soredia | S. carpoloma |
Thallus with yellow soredia (fig. 15, 16) | 7 | |
7 | Thallus dark, lobes broad, spores bilocular | S. crocata |
Thallus paler, lobes narrower, spores quadrilocular (fig. 42) | S. mougeotiana | |
8 | Thallus lacking soredia | 9 |
Thallus bearing soredia | 12 | |
9 | Thallus deeply foveolate (fig. 35) | 10 |
Thallus more or less smooth, not distinctly foveolate | 11 | |
10 | Thallus laciniate at margins, without isidia | S. foveolata |
Thallus broadly lobed, bearing isidia | S. hookeri | |
11 | Lobes narrow, medulla unchanged on application of KOH followed by Calcium hypochlorite | S. fragillima |
Lobes broader, medulla reddening on application of above reagents | S. cinnamomea | |
12 | Thallus naked below (fig. 43) | S. argyracea |
Thallus tomentose below | S. intricata | |
13 | Thallus with narrow laciniate lobes (fig. 45) | S. weigelii |
Thallus with broader rounded lobes | 14 | |
14 | Thallus bearing soredia | S. limbata |
Thallus without soredia (fig. 44) | S. fuliginosa | |
15 | Under-surface bearing cyphellae | 27 |
Under-surface bearing pseudocyphellae | 27 | |
16 | Base of thallus shortly but distinctly stalked | 17 |
Base of thallus not stalked | 18 | |
17 | Texture thin, final lobes narrow (fig. 32) | S. filix |
Texture thick, final lobes broad (fig. 48) | S. latifrons | |
18 | Texture thin, final lobes very narrow | 19 |
Texture thick, final lober broader | 20 | |
19 | Thallus very fragile, with all segments very narrow | S. lacera |
Thallus less fragile, basal portion broader | S. variabilis | |
20 | Upper surface shining when dry, lobes broad | S. amplificata |
Upper surface dull, lobes less broad | 21 | |
21 | Lower surface with few rhizines | S. damaecornis |
Lower surface, except at margins, with many rhizines | 22 | |
22 | Upper surface showing white spots | S. efflorescens |
Upper surface without white spots | 23 | |
23 | Cyphellae brownish | 24 |
Cyphellae quite white | 25 | |
24 | Spores about 7-septate (fig. 46) | S. cinereoglauca |
Spores 1-3 septate (fig. 47) | S. subcaperata | |
25 | Cyphellae large, lobes narrow and sinuose | S. sinuosa |
Cyphellae small, final lobes broader | 26 | |
26 | Thallus lobes more or less pinnatifid | S. subcoriacea |
Thallus lobes not at all pinnatifid | S. coriacea |
27 | Pseudocyphellae yellow | 28 |
Pseudocyphellae white | 33 | |
28 | Margin with bright yellow soredial masses (fig. 50 | S. aurata |
Margins without soredial masses | 29 | |
29 | Thallus, especially marginally, with numerous isidia (fig. 17) | S. flavicans |
Thallus lacking isidia | 30 | |
30 | Thallus very coriaceous | S. durvillei |
Thallus membranous to slightly coriaceous | 31 | |
31 | Surface distinctly foveolate (fig. 35) | S. impressa |
Surface not or very slightly foveolate | 32 | |
32 | Upper surface somewhat shiny, lower surface dark, tomentose, except marginally | S. glaucolurida |
Upper surface dull, bright green when wet, lower surface yellow over large areas (fig. 34) | S. coronata | |
33 | Upper surface bearing small pseudocyphellae | S. episticta |
Upper surface lacking pseudocyphellae | 34 | |
34 | Thallus showing soredia | 35 |
Thallus without soredia | 36 | |
35 | Thallus not foveolate, with numerous granular soredia (fig. 53) | S. granulata |
Thallus foveolate, soredia scanty | S. cellulifera | |
36 | Thallus lobes bearing isidia | 37 |
Thallus lobes without isidia | 39 | |
37 | Thallus coriaceous (fig. 51) | S. psilophylla |
Thallus membranous or hardly coriaceous | 38 | |
38 | Isidia long, narrow, strap-shaped | S. polyschista |
Isidia shorter, stouter | S. chloroleuca | |
39 | Thallus distinctly rather regularly foveolate (fig. 49) | S. flotowiana |
Thallus not or very irregularly foveolate | 40 | |
40 | Thallus lobes broad, texture coriaceous | S. freycinetii |
Thallus lobes narrow, texture submembranous (fig. 52) | S. homoeophylla |