Xanthoparmelia subplittii, Hale (1987 b: 330)

Elvebakk, A., Bjerke, J. W. & Støvern, L. E., 2014, Parmelioid lichens (Parmeliaceae) in southernmost South America, Phytotaxa 173 (1), pp. 1-30 : 18-19

X. subplittii Hale (1987b: 330)

In central parts of Torres del Paine National Park two isidiate yellow Xanthoparmelia species grow together. Xanthoparmelia subplittii has broad lobes with pale brown lower sides and short, somewhat swollen isidia, whereas X. wrightiana have dark brown to black lower sides, more narrow lobes closely attached to the substrate and isidia becoming cylindrical. Chemically they are identical, except that some samples of X. subplittii contain menegazziaic acid which is not produced by X. wrightiana . One of the examined specimens of X. subplitti was identified by J.A. Elix (pers. comm., 2008). A single, 0.8 mm wide apothecium with thick and inrolled thalline excipulum was found in the sample Elvebakk 14:011, with a few ellipsoid spores 7.5−8 × 10.5−12.5 µm in size (Fig. 10). This is the first report of a fertile specimen of this species. The species was previously known from the province of Chubut in central Argentinian Patagonia and northwards to Venezuela, Colombia and Curacao ( Nash et al. 1995), and is here reported from southernmost South America for the first time.

FIGURE 0. Xanthoparmelia subplittii with a single apothecium (Elvebakk 14:011) photographed in the National Park Torres del Paine.

Specimens examined: CHILE. XII REGIÓN DE MAGALLANES: Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, 2 km NE of E end of Lago Sarmiento Chico , 51 ° 03’S, 72 ° 55’W, 200 m, on eroded bedrock, Nov 1995, Elvebakk, A. 95:469 ( TROM) ; 1.5 km N of E end of Lago Sarmiento Chico , 51°03’S, 72 ° 56’W, 150 m, on dry and shattered rocks, Nov 1995, Elvebakk, A. 95:422 ( TROM) ; 1.5─ 2 km SE of Laguna de los Cisnes , 51 ° 03’S, 72 ° 51’W, 150 m, on an exposed rock slope weathered into small pieces, 3 Dec 1999, Elvebakk, A. 99:1050b ( TROM) ; 2─ 300 m, on gravel on an exposed, very dry ridge, Elvebakk, A. 99:1053 ( SGO) ; 1.5 km SV of Guardería Laguna Amarga , 50 ° 59’30”S, 72 ° 48’W, 100 m, on an exposed rock in a steppe area, 5 Jan 1996, Elvebakk, A. 96:075 ( TROM) ; Salto Grande , 51 ° 04’30”S, 73 ° 02’W, 100 m, on rock in a dry, N-facing slope, Elvebakk, A. 96:103 ( TROM) ; 2─ 3 km NE of Laguna Larga , 51 ° 00’34.9”S, 72 ° 51’35.8”W, 250 m, on dry eroded rocks in a N-facing slope, 2 Dec 1999, Elvebakk, A. 99:997 ( TROM) ; 1.5 km NW of Laguna Blanquillos , 51 ° 00’15”S, 72 ° 50’12”W, 410 m, 1 Jan 2014, Elvebakk, A. 14:011 ( TROM) .