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 | ||
Usnea elixii G.N.Stevens | ||
Lichenologist 23: 53 (1991). T: Vine Ck, Tully Falls road, Atherton Tableland, Qld, 1988, G.N.Stevens 5229; holo: MEL; iso: BRI. | ||
Thallus subpendulous to pendulous, to 24 cm long, greyish green; branching mainly at base, subdichotomous to irregular; trunk pale; base often black; branches terete, 1.0–1.5 mm wide, cracking irregularly; apices tapered; branchlets often numerous, smooth; fibrils numerous, articulated at junction with branch, to 1 (–2) mm long; papillae sparse to dense, fewer in basal region; pseudocyphellae irregularly dispersed, large, some raised and forming wart-like structures, not globose. Isidia in pseudocyphellae, but absent in richly fertile thalli; soralia absent. Cortex smooth, glossy, cartilaginous. Medulla moderately dense; axis 1/3 width of branch, hyaline. Apothecia absent or sparse on short thalli (less than 10 cm), numerous on longer thalli, lateral on branches and terminal on short branchlets, to 8 mm diam.; disc plane; margin with numerous fibrils; lower surface smooth, without fibrils. Ascospores 8–11 × 6–8 µm. CHEMISTRY: Cortex containing usnic acid. Medulla K–; containing protocetraric acid (major) and conprotocetraric acid (minor). | ||
An uncommon, endemic species in the canopy of rainforest trees in north-eastern Qld. | ||
Stevens (2004) |
Checklist Index |
Introduction | A–D | E–O | P–R | S–Z | Oceanic Islands | References |
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