Caloplaca maculata is a species of lichenized fungus endemic to New Zealand.

Caloplaca maculata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Lecanoromycetes
Order: Teloschistales
Family: Teloschistaceae
Genus: Caloplaca
Species:
C. maculata
Binomial name
Caloplaca maculata

Systematics

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Caloplaca maculata was first described by lichenologist David Galloway in 2004; the type specimen was collected from a rocky shoreline on Chatham Island, the largest island in an archipelago off New Zealand's South Island.[1] The genus name Caloplaca means "beautiful patches",[2] while the species name maculata is derived from the Latin maculātus, meaning "to cover with stains" or "to mark with coloured patches".[3]

Description

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Caloplaca maculata is a crustose lichen which grows in irregular rosettes measuring 1–3 cm (0.39–1.18 in) in diameter.[4] The thallus (the vegetative body of the lichen) is pale greenish-white when wet and greyish-white when dry, without a noticeable prothallus. Its surface is areolate, broken into angular polygons separated by deep cracks. The disc-like apothecia (the lichen's fruiting bodies) are large and conspicuous: orange when dry and clear yellow when wet. These are sessile – attached directly at their base to the thallus without a stalk.[1]

Chemistry

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In spot tests, the thallus is K− and the apothecia are K+, turning a reddish purple. Secondary metabolites include parietin.[4]

Habitat and range

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Although Caloplaca maculata was initially thought to be endemic to Chatham Island, it has since been found on other islands in the same archipelago, and on New Zealand's South Island.[5] It is saxicolous, growing on tuffaceous rock outcrops and basalt, typically in more sheltered locations along the coast.[6] It has been found growing amongst other lichen species, including Caloplaca litoralis, Dufourea ligulata, Myriolecis dispersa, Pertusaria graphica, Physcia caesia and members of the genera Amandinea, Buellia and Caloplaca.[7]

References

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Sources

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  • Ford, Marley (16 February 2022). "Caloplaca maculata". New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  • de Lange, Peter J.; de Lange, Theo J. P.; Hitchon, Tom; Patterson, Erin (May 2021). "New Chatham Islands locations for Caloplaca maculata D.J.Galloway (Teloschistaceae)". Trilepidea: Newsletter of the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. No. 207.
  • Dobson, Frank S. (2011). Lichens: An Illustrated Guide to the British and Irish Species. Slough, UK: Richmond Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85546-315-1.
  • Galloway, D. J. (2004). "New lichen taxa and names in the New Zealand mycobiota". New Zealand Journal of Botany. 42 (1): 105–120. doi:10.1080/0028825X.2004.9512893.
  • "Maculate". Merriam-Webster. 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2023.