''Caloplaca allanii'' is a species of saxicolous (rock-dwelling) and crustose lichen in the family

Teloschistaceae The Teloschistaceae are a large family of mostly lichen-forming fungi belonging to the class Lecanoromycetes in the division Ascomycota. The family, estimated to contain over 1800 species, was extensively revised in 2013, including the creation o ...

. Found in New Zealand, it was formally described as a new species by

Alexander Zahlbruckner Alexander Zahlbruckner (31 May 1860, Svätý Jur – 1938, Vienna) was an Austrian- Hungarian botanist who specialized in the study of lichens. Johann Babtist Zahlbruckner, an earlier Austrian botanist, was his grandfather. From 1878 to 1883 ...

. The type specimen was collected by

Lucy Cranwell Lucy May Cranwell (7 August 1907 – 8 June 2000) was a New Zealand botanist responsible for groundbreaking work in palynology. Cranwell was appointed curator of botany at Auckland Museum in 1929, when she was 21 years old. As well as her work ...

Anawhata Anawhata is a beach on the coast of New Zealand west of Auckland. Geography Anawhata Beach is located along the West Coast of West Auckland, between the Tasman Sea and the Waitākere Ranges. It is located south of Te Henga / Bethells Beach, ...

Beach ( Waitākere Ranges, West Auckland) in 1932; she sent a dried specimen to Zahlbruckner for identification. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''allanii'' honours New Zealand botanist

Harry Allan Harry Howard Barton Allan (27 April 1882 – 29 October 1957) was a New Zealand teacher, botanist, scientific administrator, and writer. Despite never receiving a formal education in botany, he became an eminent scientist, publishing ove ...

. For decades, ''Caloplaca allanii'' was a poorly known species, known only from the type collection, and it was assessed as

data deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

in a 2012 conservation assessment of New Zealand lichens. In 2014, it was reported to have been rediscovered, and the range of the species was expanded. ''Caloplaca allanii'' is endemic to the Waitakere Ranges coastline west of Auckland, and has been recorded from

Bethells Beach Te Henga, or Bethells Beach, is a coastal community in West Auckland, New Zealand. The Māori name for the area, "Te Henga", is in reference to the long foredunes which run along the beach and look like the or gunwale of an upturned waka hull. ...

south to northern

Manukau Heads The Manukau Heads is the name given to the two promontories that form the entrance to the Manukau Harbour – one of the two harbours of Auckland in New Zealand. The southern head, at the northern tip of Āwhitu Peninsula, is simply termed "The ...

. The lichen contains several secondary chemicals, including emodin, erythroglaucin,

fallacinal Fallacinal is an organic compound in the structural class of chemicals known as anthraquinones. It is found in many species of the lichen family Teloschistaceae. History In 1936, Japanese chemists Mitizo Asano and Sinobu Fuziwara reported on the ...

, parietin,

teloschistin Fallacinol (teloschistin) is an organic compound in the structural class of chemicals known as anthraquinones. It is found in some lichens, particularly in the family Teloschistaceae, as well as a couple of plants and non lichen-forming fungi. In ...

, and xanthorin.

References

allanii Lichen species Lichens described in 1934 Lichens of New Zealand Taxa named by Alexander Zahlbruckner {{Teloschistales-stub

See also

References