Coniocarpon cinnabarinum
Common name
Bloody comma lichen
Synonyms
Arthonia cinnabarina, Arthonia tumidula, Coniocarpon cinnabarinum, Spiloma tumidula
Family
Arthoniaceae
Flora category
Lichen – Native
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Lichens - Crustose
Current conservation status
2018 | Data Deficient | Qualifiers: SO
Brief description
Characterised by the corticolous habit; the mosaic-forming thallus; the brown to blackish apothecia that are often cinnabar-red-pruinose at margins; the brown epithecium with blotches of purple-red pigment (K+ red or purple, dissolving); and the obovate ascospores, 3–5-septate, brown at maturity, 15–26 × 5–8 μm the upper cell larger.
Distribution
North Island: Auckland (Waitakere Ranges). Recently found in the Waikatō, near Huntly (Hutchison 2022).
Cosmopolitan. A very variable species known from temperate and tropical regions of both Northern and Southern hemispheres including Great Britain, Europe, Scandinavia, Tibet, North America, Hawai’i, Galapagos Islands, and Australia.
Habitat
On bark of Myoporum laetum (Bartlett 1988).
Detailed description
Thallus shining in parts, slightly roughened in others, pale grey-brown, sometimes tinged red or pinkish, in patches delimited by a ± well- defined black or brownish line, or immersed. Ascocarps frequent, scattered irregular to ± lirelliform, sometimes bluntly stellate with a pale brown to blackish disc which is pink-white or red-pruinose at margin, 0.2 mm wide to 1-2 mm long. Ascospores obovate-oblong, 3-5-septate, 15-26 × 5-8 µm, upper cell larger.
Substrate
Corticolous
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by Melissa Hutchison (14 June 2023). Brief description, Distribution, Habitat, and Features sections copied from Galloway (1985, 2007).
References and further reading
Bartlett J.K. 1988: Lichens of the Waitakere Range. Auckland Botanical Society Bulletin 17: 1-29.
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.
Hutchison M. 2022: iNaturalist observation. https://inaturalist.nz/observations/108338842. Date accessed: 14 June 2023.