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- Megalosporaceae -
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Revised key to Megalosporaceae (genera Austroblastenia, Megaloblastenia, Megalospora)
including some easily confused taxa
provisional version, by H. Sipman, 13 November 1997, corrected 22 Oct. 1999

This unpublished key is placed on the net as an update to the key in my monograph (Bibliotheca Lichenologica vol. 18, 1983). Comments are very welcome.

References:
Kalb, K. 1990. Schedae for Lichenes neotropici Fasc. XI (No. 451-475). 12 pp. Neumarkt/Opf.
Kantvilas, G. 1994. Additions to the family Megalosporaceae in Tasmania and mainland Australia. Lichenologist 26: 349-366.
Sipman, H.J.M. 1983. A monograph of the lichen family Megalosporaceae. Bibliotheca Lichenologica 18: 1-241.
Sipman, H.J.M. 1986. Additional notes on the lichen family Megalosporaceae. Willdenowia 15: 557-564.




1a    Spores uniseptate                                              2

 b    Spores pluriseptate, bacillar                                 26

 c    pluriseptate, muriform                                        42



2a    Spore septa and apical walls thick                             3

 b    Spore septa and apical walls thin                              5



3a (2) Thallus whitish grey, P+ orange, KC- (pannarin); apothecia more 

      or less grey-pruinose; Australasia, Tropics

            Megaloblastenia marginiflexa (Hook. & Tayl.) Sipman .....4

 b    Thallus yellowish grey, P-, KC+ yellow (usnic acid); apothecia 

      black; New Zealand, Tasmania

                             Megaloblastenia flavidoatra (Nyl.) Sipman



4a    Subhypothecium dark brown; Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea

                                     M. marginiflexa var. marginiflexa

 b    Subhypothecium pale; tropical America

                            M. marginiflexa var. dimota (Malme) Sipman



5a    Spores always single in each ascus, straight, elongate, usually 

      3 or more times as long as wide; hymenium guttulate; widespread

                                                                     6

 b    Spores with 2 in each ascus, straight; hymenium clear; 

      Neotropical          Lopezaria versicolor (Fée) Kalb & Hafelln.

 c    Spores with (1-)2-8 in each ascus, usually curved and less than 

      3 times as long as wide; hymenium guttulate; widespread in the 

      Tropics and Australasia                                       19



6a    Thalline margin present; hymenium 85-120 mu high, I+ deep blue 

      throughout; Neotropics

                             "Lecania" sulphureofusca (Fée) Müll. Arg.

 b    Thalline margin absent; hymenium (100-)120-180(-230) mu high, I- 

      except around the asci; Palaeotropics, Australasia             7



7a    Thallus whitish, P+ orange, KC- (pannarin)

                     Megalospora gompholoma (Müll. Arg.) Sipman .....8

 b    Thallus yellowish, P-, KC+ yellow (usnic acid)                 9



8a    Orange-brown layer present below the hymenium (observe with 

      incumbent light); New Zealand      M. gompholoma ssp. gompholoma

 b    Dark brown layer present below the hymenium; Australia, 1x New 

      Zealand                   M. gompholoma ssp. fuscolineata Sipman



9a    Soredia present                                               10

 b    Soredia absent                                                12



10a   Soredia granular, scattered usually over most of the thallus; 

      apothecium margin yellowish                                   11

  b   Soredia farinose, mostly restricted to punctiform soralia; 

      apothecium margin black; Japan

              Megalospora atrorubicans (Nyl.) Zahlbr. ssp. sendaiensis



11a   Hymenium 150-220 mu high; spores 120-170 x 35-45 mu; New Guinea

                                          Megalospora granulans Sipman

  b   Hymenium c. 160 mu high; spores 100-145 x 30-48 mu; New Zealand, 

      Tasmania                            Megalospora disjuncta Sipman



12a   Isidia present; New Zealand        Megalospora bartlettii Sipman

  b   Isidia absent                                                 13



13a   Spores under 100 mu long                                      14

  b   Spores over 100 mu long                                       18



14a   Apothecium margin yellowish; New Caledonia

                               Megalospora sulphureorufa (Nyl.) Riddle

  b   Apothecium margin brown to black                              15



15a   Apothecia with conical lower side, narrowest at the attachment; 

      New Caledonia                          Megalospora hillii Sipman

  b   Apothecia with flat lower side

                       Megalospora atrorubicans (Nyl.) Zahlbr. .....16



16a   Apothecium margin black, in older apothecia disappearing; Asia, 

      North America     M. atrorubicans ssp. sendaiensis (Räs.) Sipman

  b   Apothecium margin pale to black, persistent                   17



17a   Thin orange-brown layer present below the hymenium (observe with 

      incumbent light); apothecia usually over 1 mm wide; New Zealand, 

      Australia                  M. atrorubicans ssp. australis Sipman

  b   No such layer present; apothecia usually under 1 mm wide; 

      palaeotropical                 M. atrorubicans ssp. atrorubicans



18a   Apothecia with conical lower side, narrowest at the attachment; 

      New Guinea                             Megalospora weberi Sipman

  b   Apothecia with flat lower side                                17



19a   Thallus whitish, P+ orange, KC- (pannarin)                    20

  b   Thallus yellowish, P-, KC+ yellow (usnic acid)                21



20a   Thallus esorediate; New Zealand

                             Megalospora campylospora (Stirton) Sipman

  b   Thallus entirely coarsely granular sorediate; Tasmania

                                       Megalospora pulverata Kantvilas



21a   All spores under 45 mu long                                   22

  b   Most or all spores over 45 mu long                            24



22a   Soralia present, 0.5-1 mm wide; New Zealand, Australia

                            Megalospora subtuberculosa (Knight) Sipman

  b   Soralia absent; Australia                                     23



23a   Apothecia persistently epruinose, with glossy discs

       Megalospora melanodermia (Müll. Arg.) Zahlbr. var. melanodermia

  b   Apothecia white-pruinose, at least when young, with scabrid 

      discs      M. melanodermia var. galactocarpa (Zahlbr.) Kantvilas



24a   Epithecium with thick, granular layer which penetrates up to 70 

      mu into the hymenium; New Zealand    Megalospora knightii Sipman

  b   Epithecium without granules

                                  Megalospora sulphurata Meyen......25



25a   Epithecium orange-brown to brown; Palaeotropics

                                         M. sulphurata var. sulphurata

  b   Epithecium olive-green to olive-brown or dark brown; Neotropics, 

      Africa          M. sulphurata var. nigricans (Müll. Arg.) Riddle



26a(1) Spores single in each ascus, straight                        27

  b   Spores 2-8 per ascus, mostly curved                           34



27a   Thallus whitish grey, P+ orange, KC- (pannarin)               28

  b   Thallus yellowish grey, P-, KC+ yellow (usnic acid)           33



28a   Soredia present                                               29

  b   Soredia absent                                                30



29a   Soralia white; Great Lakes area of North America

                          Megalospora porphyrites (Tuck.) R. C. Harris

  b   Soralia yellow; Neotropics   Megalospora chloritis (Tuck.) INED.



30a   Spores over 150 mu long; New Guinea

                                          Megalospora albescens Sipman

  b   Spores usually under 100 mu long                              31



31a   Algae present in the apothecium margin (in ectal excipulum); 

      Australia          Megalospora australiensis (Müll. Arg.) Sipman

  b   No algae present in the apothecium margin                     32



32a   Apothecia ± concave with inflexed, bluish margin; Australia

                                   Megalospora inflexa (Knight) Sipman

  b   Apothecia plane to convex, with more or less prominent, pale 

      brown to black margin; subcosmopolitic

                                  Megalospora tuberculosa (Fée) Sipman



33a   Hymenium over 200 mu high; excipulum in section K+ yellow; SE 

      Asia                                    Megalospora halei Sipman

  b   Hymenium under 200 mu high; excipulum in section usually K-;     

      subcosmopolitic             Megalospora tuberculosa (Fée) Sipman



34a   Thallus whitish grey, P+ orange, KC- (pannarin) or P-, KC- 

      (lichexanthone)                                               35

  b   Thallus yellowish grey, P-, KC+ yellow (usnic acid)           41



35a   Spores with thick septa with clear pores, always three-septate, 

      35-40 mu long      Austroblastenia pauciseptata (Shirley) Sipman

  b   Spores with thin septa without clear pores, usually 5-11-

      septate, over 60 mu long                                      36



36a   Apothecium margin pale; spores 70-105 mu long                 37

  b   Apothecium margin dark brown to black; spores 90-140 mu long 

                     Megalospora pruinata (Müll. Arg.) Sipman.......39



37a   Hymenium 105-180 mu high; lichexanthone present (UV+ orange); 

      Neotropics                Megalospora pachycheila (Tuck.) Sipman

  b   Hymenium 200-280 mu high; pannarin present (UV- or + white)

                            Megalospora coccodes (Bél.) Sipman......38



38a   Upper part of ectal excipulum with white, elongate, c. 4 x 1 mu 

      large crystals; SE Asia

                        M. coccodes ssp. nigricans (Müll. Arg.) Sipman

  b   Upper part of ectal excipulum with tiny yellowish crystals; 

      Africa and America                     M. coccodes ssp. coccodes



39a   Hymenium under 220 mu high; Africa     M. pruinata ssp. pruinata

  b   Hymenium over 220 mu high                                     40



40a   Apothecia black, sometimes with a bluish-white pruina; 

      Indonesia, Malaya, Sabah

                               M. pruinata ssp. lamii (Groenh.) Sipman

  b   Appothecia very dark brown, sometimes with a slight grey pruina; 

      New Guinea                         M. pruinata ssp. fusca Sipman



41a   Apothecium margin brown to black; spores with completely thin 

      septa; W. Africa             Megalospora thomensis (Nyl.) Sipman

  b   Apothecium margin pale yellowish; spores with thick rings along 

      the attachment lines of the septa with the outer wall; Madeira

                             Megalospora maderensis (Krempelh.) Sipman



42a (1) Spores with thick transverse septa, 4-8 per ascus; New Zealand, 

      Tasmania                             Austroblastenia pupa Sipman

  b   Spores only with thin septa, solitary in each ascus; widespread

                                                                    43



43a   Thallus whitish grey, P+ orange, KC- (pannarin); spores 60-105 

      mu long                                                       44

  b   Thallus yellowish grey, P-, KC+ yellow (usnic acid); spores 80-

      125 mu long; Queensland         Megalospora queenslandica Sipman



44a   Apothecia dark brown to black, large, usually 1.5-2 mm wide   45

  b   Apothecia pale brown to brown, usually small, 0.7-1.3(-2) mm 

      wide                                                          46



45a   Apothecium margin black; spores 60-90 mu long; Tasmania

                                        Megalospora lopadioides Sipman

  b   Apothecium margin pale brown; spores 80-110 mu long; Neotropics

                                            Megalospora foersteri Kalb



46a   Apothecia soon convex, whitish pruinose; southern South America

                                             Megalospora kalbii Sipman

  b   Apothecia flat slightly convex, epruinose or with thin bluish 

      pruina                                                        47



47a   Apothecia flat to obconical; tropical America

                                     Megalospora admixta (Nyl.) Sipman

  b   Apothecia flat; SW Australia

                                    Megalospora occidentalis Kantvilas


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page editor: Harrie Sipman, this page last updated 22 Oct. 1999, imprint
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