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Go to the NZFungi website for more indepth information on Lanzia sp. Lanzia sp. "aureus pohutukawa"

Biostatus

Present in region - Indigenous. Endemic

Notes: There are several leaf-inhabiting, sclerotiniaceous discomycetes with bright yellow to mustard coloured apothecia. These include Lanzia griseliniae along with several putatively distinct, undescribed species. All are macroscopically similar when fresh, bright yellow to mustard yellow, all have an outer excipular layer with the end cells of the outermost elements free, swollen, and generally packed with bright yellow pigments, but pigments are not released into KOH (expect sometimes when apothecia are young, and then only in small quantities). The colour of the apothecia is variable after drying, often darker, although this varies within a collection; the apothecia of the species on Myrsine chathamica dry consistently orange. Cells of the outer exipular layer are short and broad, angular to almost globose, with the wall thickened. The putative taxa can be distinguished primarily by small variations in ascospore size. Each of the undescribed taxa are known from two or more collections, with some host or geographic specialisation, although this not absolute. The morphologically defined taxa need testing with molecular data.
  • Lanzia griseliniae (Dennis) Dumont, on Griselinia, not common, known from 4 collections on Griselinia, the type from the central North Island, others from Banks Peninsula, Stewart Island, and Karamea, as well as one from Pseudopanax from Taupo. Ascospores about 12-15 x 4-5 µm; asci about 8-11 µm wide.
  • Lanzia sp. "aurea" quite common on Griselinia spp., Pseudopanax crassifolius and Metrosideros umbellata, with one collections on Senecio reinoldii. Known from the South Island, Stewart Island and the Auckland Islands. This species differ from L. griseliniae in having smaller ascospores, about 9-11 x 3-4 µm; asci about 7-8.5 µm wide.
  • Lanzia sp. "aurea pohutukawa" on Metrosideros excelsa. These few collections differ from Lanzia sp. "aurea" having shorter and wider ascospores, 7-8.5 x 3.5-4.5 µm.
  • Lanzia sp. "aurea chathamica", on Myrsine chathamica, Chatham Islands. When dry the more or less free cells covering the apothecia of these collections are bright orange rather than bright yellow (when fresh they are yellow), and the apothecia release small quantities of orange-red pigments into KOH (the other taxa release either no pigments, or small quatities of yellow pigment). Some of the free cells on the outer excipular layer are distinctly fusoid and apiculate; the hyphae of the outer excipular layer are not encrusted. The ascopores match those of Lanzia sp. "aurea".