Australian Biological Resources Study
| Checklist of the Lichens of Australia and its Island Territories | ||
| Introduction | A–D | E–O | P–R | S–Z | Oceanic Islands | References | ||
| Leifidium tenerum (Laurer) Wedin | ||
| Pl. Syst. Evol. 187: 235 (1993); Sphaerophorus tener Laurer, Linnaea 2: 45 (1827). T: Australia, F.Sieber s.n.; lecto: BM, fide K.Ohlsson, in L.Tibell, Symb. Bot. Upsal. 27(1): 225 (1987); isolecto: FH, G, G-DC, PC-MONTAGNE. ****Sphaerophorus curtus Hook.f. & Taylor, London J. Bot. 3: 654 (1844). T: Auckland Island, 1840, J.D.Hooker; lecto: FH-TAYL. 153, fide K.Ohlsson, in L.Tibell, Symb. Bot. Upsal. 27(1): 254 (1987); isolecto: BM, UPS. | ||
| Thallus slender, ±richly branched, terete, forming loose to compact often very extensive colonies, or small cushions or patches, pale grey to white, rarely somewhat brownish. Main branches stouter, elongate, very sparingly branched, up to 7 cm long and 0.5–1.5 mm wide; cortex thin, 30–45 µm thick (2 or 3 hyphal layers). Apothecia terminal, raised conspicuously above the rest of the thallus, 1–2 (–2.5) mm diam.; development angiocarpic; exciple covering the developing mazaedium until it is finally shed in one piece; thalline receptacle normally completely lost early. Mazaedium oriented apically. Ascospores globose, rarely subglobose, (5.5–) 7–9 (–11) µm diam., hyaline to pale grey, smooth or with a small amount of ornamentation, becoming more bluish to greenish grey and ornamentation dissolving in KOH, but no visible change in colour in HNO3. Conidia obovate to rod-shaped, 3–4 × 1.5 µm. CHEMISTRY: Medulla K–, C–, P–, I–; containing sphaerophorin and unidentified accessory substances. | ||
| Occurs in Qld, N.S.W., Vic. and Tas.; a common epiphyte in all types of temperate rainforest, occasionally in wet-sclerophyll forest; also on the ground and on rocks in alpine and subantarctic areas (Macquarie Is.). Also in New Zealand, Argentina and Chile. | ||
| Wedin (2001) | ||
| Checklist Index |
| Introduction | A–D | E–O | P–R | S–Z | Oceanic Islands | References |
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