Pseudephebe mariensis
Pseudephebe mariensis Øvstedal & Fryday ined.
Basionym: Bryoria mariensis Øvstedal, Common & Fryday, Lichenologist 44: 487. 2012
Description:
Thallus fruticose, up to 10 cm wide, prostrate, no distinct main branches, thickest branches up to 0.4 mm diam. but usually < 0.2 mm diam., branching isotomic dichotomous, young branches brown, old branches blackish; with pseudocyphellae and soralia. Pseudocyphellae rare, straight, up to 0.3 mm long and 0.05 mm broad, in young branches sometimes with medulla showing, otherwise closed and blackish. Soralia globose, 0.3-0.5 mm diam, concolorous with thallus, on end of branches or terminating small side-branches near branch tips; soredia 14-20 µm diam. Cortex approaching Nodobryoria-type (see Common & Brodo 1995), with pseudoparenchymatous surface cells which look knobbly on the surface, below that prosoplechtenchymatous hyphae in a massive gelatinous matrix.
Chemistry : C – , K+ red (acicular crystals – microscope), Pd+ yellow; norstictic acid by TLC. Lichenan present in cell wall.
Distribution & Ecology:
Known only from two collections, growing over terricolous bryophytes on Mt Maria, Port Howard, West Falkland.
Notes:
Another collection, from the same locality as one of the collections, lacks norstictic acid but appears to be the same species.
Boluda et al. (2016) showed that this species should be included in the genus Pseudephebe and included it in the synonymy of P. minuscula (Nyl. ex Arnold) Brodo & D. Hawksw. While accepting the placement in Pseudephebe, we consider the morphological differences are sufficient to warrant accepting it as a distinct species.