TAN I- 24, 1978 LICHENS OF HEN ISLAND, NORTHERN NEW ZEALAND by Glenys C. Hayward* and Bruce W. Hayward *35 Trafalgar Street, Waterloo, Lower Hutt N.Z. Geological Survey, P.O. Box 30-368, Lower Hutt SUMMARY Ninety-nine species from fourty-four genera are here recorded from Hen Island. Adding records of Cranwell & Moore (1935) and Zahlbruckner (1941) produces a total lichen flora of at least one hundred and twenty-six species of forty-nine genera. This includes over one third of the New Zealand flora of the families Graphidaceae and Opegraphaceae, with the first North Island records of Opegrapha spodopolia and O. stellata, and the first collections of Graphis inquinata outside its unspecified New Zealand type locality. Species of Catillaria and Strigula were found growing on the leaves of Nestegis apetala. Rich lichen floras are described from marine and maritime rocks along the southern coast, from kanuka forest and scrub on Lighthouse Point, from rocky knolls on the high backbone ridge, and from mixed forest on the steep south and south-western slopes of Hen Island. INTRODUCTION The lichens recorded here were collected by us from Hen Island during a week long visit in August, 1977. Hen Island is the largest island of the Hen and Chickens Group and lies approximately 15km off the east coast of Northland, midway between Little Barrier Island and the Poor Knights Group. Hen Island is 5km long, 2km wide and rises to a height of 460m above sea level. The island has an east-west backbone ridge with exposed rocky knolls and pinnacles. Kanuka {Leptospermum ericoides) dominated forest and scrub covers the high northern slopes of this ridge, as well as parts of the lower western slopes around Lighthouse Point (Atkinson & Campbell 1966). Much of the steeper southern and south-western slopes of the island are covered by mixed forest of puriri (Vitex lucens), taraire (Beilschmiedia tarairi), tawa (B. tawa) and mahoe (Melicytus ramiflorus). The coastline is in many places lined with pohutukawa (Metrosideros excelsa) coastal forest. The island's physiography is more fully described in Hayward (1978) and the vascular plant flora in Wright (1978). Representative collections of lichens were made from various localities within the kanuka forest and scrub, mixed forest, pohutukawa coastal forest and from the exposed rocky knolls on the backbone ridge, and the rocky intertidal and maritime zones (Fig. 1). Voucher specimens of these lichens are held in the authors' herbarium. 119 Fig. 1. Map of Hen Island showing localities where representative collections of lichens were made from five habitat types: 1. maritime, marine; 2. kanuka forest and scrub; 3. rocky knolls; 4. mixed forest; 5. pohutukawa coastal forest PREVIOUS WORK A number of lichens were collected from the Hen and Chickens Islands in 1933 and 1934 by Lucy Cranwell and Lucy Moore. Cranwell and Moore (1935) record seventy-nine species that were identified in part by A. Zahlbruckner and in part by themselves using comparative material named by him. In addition, Zahlbruckner (1941) in his posthumously-published "Lichenes Novae Zelandiae", recorded fourteen species from Hen Island including six not included in Cranwell and Moore's list. Zahlbruckner (1941) described six new species having Hen Island as their type locality: Bacidia tholera on forest rock; Buellia alutacea on coastal rock; Caloplaca acheila f. rubentior on coastal rock; Heppia spectabilis on cliff face; Lecidea gallinarum on coastal rock; and Leptogium aucklandicum on forest bark. Taxonomic revisions in the last forty years prevent direct comparison of many of Cranwell and Moore's and Zahlbruckner's records with our own, especially in the foliose lichen families Collemataceae, Pannariaceae, Parmeliaceae, Stictaceae and Physciaceae. Besides these families, these earlier workers still record at least twenty-seven species that we did not find or identify in our Hen Island study. Most are crustose lichens of the genera Bacidia, Buellia, Lecanora, Lecidea, Microthelia, Pyrenula and Rinodina. Because of the difficulties in identifying these crustose lichens and the present confusion in their taxonomy, we have made little effort to identify our collections beyond generic level. There are however several lichens recorded by Cranwell and Moore (1935) and Zahlbruckner (1941) that we did not find on Hen Island and we must conclude that they are rare there. These include Heppia spectabilis, Myxodictyon chrysostictum, Stereocaulon vesuvianum (= S. denudatum of Cranwell & Moore) and Teloschistes chrysophthalmus. Our study has added a further thirty-four species at least, to the lists of Cranwell and Moore and Zahlbruckner. These include seven additional species of Cladonia, four of Opegrapha, five Graphidaceae, plus species of Coccocarpia, Heterodermia, Menegazzia, Parmeliella and others. SPECIES LIST Key to distribution symbols: Substrate Habitat le = leaf 1 = maritime, marine r = rock 2 = kanuka forest and scrub s = soil 3 = rocky knolls t = tree bark 4 = mixed forest * also recorded by Cranwell & Moore (1935) 5 = pohutukawa coastal forest CLASS ASCOMYCETES ORDER LECANORALES Suborder Lecanorineae Cladoniaceae Cladia aggregata (Sw.)Nyl.* 2s,3r Cladonia cf. borbonica NyL 2s 121 C. capitellata (Tayl.)Bab.* lr,3r C. didyma (Fee)Vain. 3r C. floerkeana (Fr.)Floerke* 3r C. gracilis (L.)Willd. 3r C. leptoclada Des.Abb.* 2s,3r C. pityrea (Flocrke)Fr. 3r C. scabriuscula Sandst. Irs C. subcariosa (Nyl.)Vain. 2s C. subulata (L.)Wigg. 2s Coccocarpiaceae Coccocarpia cronia Tuck. 2t C. pellita Mull.Arg. 41 Collemataceae Collema cf. subflaccidum Dcgel. 4t Collema spp. 2t Leptogium azureum (Sw.)Mont. 2t,4t L. cf. austroamericanum (Malme)Dodge 21 Leptogium sp. 4rt Lecanoraceae Lecanora spp.* lr,2t,4t Ochrolechia parella (L.)Mass.* lr Lecideaceae Bacidia sp.* lr,2t Catillaria melaclina (Nyl.)Zahlbr. 2t,4t Catillaria sp. 41e Lecidea corallina Eschw. 4t L. cf. meiospora Nyl. lr Lecidea sp.* lr,2t Megalospora marginiflexa (Hook.f. & Tayl.) Zahlbr. 2t,4t Pannariaceae Pannaria fulvescens Nyl. 2t P. immixta Nyl. 2s,4t Pannaria n.sp. 2t Parmeliella nigrocincta Mull.Arg. 2t,4t Psoroma anthrophyllum Stilt. 2t,4t P. contortum Nyl. 2t,4t,5t P. sphinctrinum Nyl. 2t Parmeliaceae Menegazzia circumsorediata Sant. 4t Parmelia (Melanoparmelia) cf. verrucella Essl. lr P. (Melanoparmelia) spp. 2rt "P. (Xanthoparmelia) isidiigera (Mull. Arg.)Gyeln." lr,2r,3r Parmotrema cetratum (Ach.) Hale* lr,2r,3r,4rt P. crinitum (Ach.)Choisy P. perlatum (Huds.)Choisy* lr,2rs P. reticulatum (Tayl.)Choisy 2r,3r,4t Xanthoparmelia furcata (Mull. Arg.)Hale lr,2rs,3r X. tasmanica (Hook.f. & Tayl.)Hale* lr,3r Usnea arida Mot.* 3r U. rubescens Stirt.* 3r Usnea spp. 3r,4t Ramalinaceae Ramalina allani Zahlbr. lr,3r R. linearis Ach.* lr,3r,4t R. menziesii Tayl. lr Stereocaulaceae Stereocaulon ramulosum (Sw.)Rausch.* 2r,3r Suborder Lichinineae Lichinaceae Lichina sp.* lr Suborder Teloschistineae Teleoschistaceae Caloplaca holocarpa (Hoffm.)Wade lr 122 C. elegans (Link.)Th.Fr.* li Teloschistes flavicans (Sw.)Norm.* 3r,4t Xanthoria parietina (L.)Th.Fr.* lr Suborder Peltigerineae Peltigeraceae Peltigera dolichorhiza (Nyl.)Nyl.* 3r Stictaceae Lobaria montagnei (Bab.)Hellb. 2t,4t Pseudocyphellaria argyracea (Del.)Vain. 2t,4t P. aurata (Ach.)Vain* 2t,4r P. chloroleuca (Hook.f.)D.R. 4t P. cinnamomea Vain. 4rt P. crocata (L.)Vain. 3r P. flavicans (Hook.f.)Vain. 2t P. granulata (Hook.f.)Malme 2t P. hirta Stirt. 2t,4t P. impressa (Hook.f. et Tayl.)Vain.* 2t,4rt P. cf. obvoluta (Ach.)Malme 2s Sticta coriacea Hook.f. et Tayl. 4r S. latifrons Rich.* 4rt S. multifida Laur. 4t S. psilophylla Mull.Arg. 4rt S. subcoriacea Nyl. lr,2s 5. sylvatica (Huds.)Ach. 3r,4rt Suborder Physciineae Physciaceae "Anaptychia boryii (Fee)Massal" 4t "Anaptychia japonica (Sato)Kurok." 4t A. leucomela (L.)Mass. 2t,4t Buellia stellulata (Tayl.)Mudd.* lr Buellia spp.* lr,4t Heterodermia dendritica (Pers.)Poelt. lr,3r H. pseudospeciosa (Kurok.)Culb. 2t,4rt Physcia albicans (Pers.)Thomson 4t P. cf. caesia (Hoffm.)Hampe. 4r Suborder Pertusariineae Pertusariaceae Pertusaria spp.* 2t,3r,4t ORDER OSTROPALES Suborder Ostropineae Thelotremataceae "Ocellularia" spp. lr,2t Thelotrema lepadinum Ach. 2t Suborder Graphidineae Graphidaceae Graphina subvelata (Stirt.)Zahlbr. 4t Graphls inquinata (Knight et Mitt.) Hook.f. lr,4t G. librata Knight 4t Graphis sp. 2t,4t Phaeographis australiensis Mull.Arg. 4t ORDER SPHAERIALES Porinaceae Clathroporina endochrysea sensu Bab (1855) 4t Pyrenulaceae Arthopyrenia sp.* lr Strigulaceae Strigula subelegans Vain. 41e ORDER VERRUCAR1ALES Verrucariaceae Verrucaria maura Wahlenb. ex Ach.* lr ORDER ARTHONIALES Opegraphaceae Opegrapha agelaeoides Nyl. 4t O. intertexta Knight 2t O. spodopolia Nyl. lr O. stellata Knight 2t 123 GRAPHIDACEAE AND OPEGRAPHACEAE Nine species of these two families have been found on Hen Island. This is over one third of the total known New Zealand flora of "script lichens" (twenty-two species — Hayward 1977). Five of these species {Graphina subvelata, Graphis librata, Phaeographis australiensis, Opegrapha agelaeoides, O. intertexta) are common in northern New Zealand and have been recorded from a number of the islands off the east coast of Northland and Coromandel Peninsula (Hayward 1977). Graphis sp. is the most common of the "script lichens" on Hen Island and appears to be an as yet unidentified new record for New Zealand. The records of Opegrapha spodopolia and O. stellata from Hen Island are the first from outside Otago, Southland and Fiordland. The most valuable records from Hen Island