Calycidium cuneatum SYNONYMS Calycidiomyces cuneatus, Sphaerophorus cuneatus FAMILY Sphaerophoraceae AUTHORITY Calycidium cuneatum Stirt. FLORA CATEGORY Lichen – Native ENDEMIC TAXON No ENDEMIC GENUS No ENDEMIC FAMILY No STRUCTURAL CLASS Lichen - Foliose CURRENT CONSERVATION STATUS 2018 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP, SO, Sp BRIEF DESCRIPTION Characterised by the foliose thallus with marginal lobules or laciniae supporting several apothecia. The mazedium is also clearly brown in contrast to the black mazedium of species of Bunodophoron. DISTRIBUTION North Island: South Auckland (Te Aroha, Pirongia), Taranaki (Mt Taranaki), Wellington (Mt Ruapehu, Rimutaka Ra.). South Island: Nelson (Peel Range, track from Cobb Reservoir to Lake Peel, Lake Rotoroa, Lake Rotoiti, Stockton Plateau, Lake Daniells Track Maruia Valley), Canterbury (Nina Valley S of Lewis Pass), Southland (Secretary Island, Oblong Hill, Lake Hauroko, Purakino Valley). Stewart Island: Port Pegasus. Chatham Islands. Auckland Islands. HABITAT On tree bark and roots, especially those of Fuscospora fusca (between buttresses), or mossy rocks in moderate to deep shade, 450–800 m. FEATURES Thallus foliose, heteromerous, lobate, dorsiventral, to 4 cm diam. Lobes broad, rounded, flattened, margins entire, sinuous, often ± ascending. Photobiont green, Protococcaceae. Apothecia marginal on small lobules, mazaedium well-developed, surrounded by a narrow thalline margin. Asci cylindrical, thin-walled containing 8 irregularly arranged spores. Ascospores simple, spherical to irregularly ellipsoid, brown at maturity. Chemistry: K−, C−, KC−, Pd−, UV−; containing sphaerophorin and an unidentified major compound, possibly a xanthone. SIMILAR TAXA It differs from Calycidium polycarpum in forming larger patches on trunks, and in having more distinctly incised lobes, which give a somewhat stiped appearance to the apothecia. Apothecia are also smaller than those of C. polycarpum, the ascospores are slightly, but significantly, smaller than in this latter species, and the chemistry of sphaerophorin as major metabolite is distinctive. SUBSTRATE Corticolous (bark and roots), saxicolous (mossy rocks) ATTRIBUTION Fact sheet prepared by Melissa Hutchison (25 August 2021). Brief description, Distribution, Habitat, Features, and Similar Taxa sections copied from Galloway (1985, 2007). REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING Galloway D.J. 1985: Flora of New Zealand: Lichens. Wellington: PD Hasselberg, Government Printer. 662 pp. Galloway D.J. 2007: Flora of New Zealand: Lichens, including lichen-forming and lichenicolous fungi. 2nd edition. Lincoln, Manaaki Whenua Press. 2261 pp. MORE INFORMATION https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/calycidium-cuneatum/.