Caloplaca maculata is a species of lichenized fungi endemic to New Zealand.
Caloplaca maculata was first described by lichenologist David Galloway in 2004; the type specimen was collected from a rocky shoreline on Chatham Island, the largest island in an archipelago off New Zealand's South Island.[1] The genus name Caloplaca means "beautiful patches",[2] while the species name maculata is derived from the Latin maculātus, meaning "to cover with stains" or "to mark with coloured patches".[3]
Caloplaca maculata is a crustose lichen which grows in irregular rosettes measuring 1–3 cm (0.39–1.18 in) in diameter.[4] The thallus (the vegetative body of the lichen) is pale greenish-white when wet and greyish-white when dry, without a noticeable prothallus. Its surface is areolate, broken into angular polygons separated by deep cracks. The disc-like apothecia (the lichen's fruiting bodies) are large and conspicuous: orange when dry and clear yellow when wet. These are sessile – attached directly at their base to the thallus without a stalk.[1]
In spot tests, the thallus is K- and the apothecia are K+, turning a reddish purple. Secondary metabolites include parietin.[4]
Although Caloplaca maculata was initially thought to be endemic to Chatham Island, it has since been found on other islands in the same archipelago, and on New Zealand's South Island.[5] It is saxicolous, growing on tuffaceous rock outcrops and basalt, typically in more sheltered locations along the coast.[6] It has been found growing amongst other lichen species, including Caloplaca litoralis, Dufourea ligulata, Myriolecis dispersa, Pertusaria graphica, Physcia caesia and members of the genera Amandinea, Buellia and Caloplaca.[7]
Caloplaca maculata is a species of lichenized fungi endemic to New Zealand.
