Ganoderma sp.
Pukatea bracket
General status: Endemic; possibly extinct since recent efforts to relocate material in field have failed to date. No extant living material (e.g., fungal culture).
Population: <250 mature individuals over an area of <1 ha. Unknown susceptibility to population fluctuations. Not known whether subpopulations exist. Total population unknown. Probable decline due to clearing of forested land for farming; forest in region (e.g., Awaroa Valley) is rich in pukatea, the only known host.
Distribution: if still extant, vic. Mt Priongia is likely location on basis of previous known distribution.
Taxonomy: Ganoderma sp.
Polyporus lucidus (Curtis: Fr.) Fr., sensu Berk., in Hooker, Fl. N.Z. 2: 178, 1855.
Fomes lucidus (Curtis: Fr.) Cooke, sensu Massee, Trans. Proc. N.Z. Inst. 39: 7, 1907.
Ganoderma lucidum (Curtis: Fr.) P.Karst., sensu McKenzie & Foggo, N.Z. J. Bot. 27: 95, 1989.
Ganoderma tropicum (Jungh.) Bres., sensu Hood, An Illustrated Guide to Fungi on Wood in New Zealand: 154, 1992.
This polypore wood decay fungus is a yet-to-be-identified, laccate (shiny-topped) species of Ganoderma, known from only three collections on Laurelia novae-zelandiae (pukatea) from a single North Island location or region. The species was identified by the Belgian mycologist RL Steyaert as G. tropicum and the name was adopted in New Zealand by Hood (1992). This appears to be in error as specimens do not conform to authenticated material of that species (Buchanan & Ryvarden 2000). Records of New Zealand collections of G. lucidum (and earlier synonyms) may belong here too, although collections have not been located. McKenzie & Foggo (1989) acknowledged that G. lucidum was a doubtful New Zealand record.
Collections:
On Laurelia novae-zelandiae: Waikato, Pirongia, G.B. Rawlings, Sep 1969 (PDD 29607); Waikato, Waipa, Pirongia, R. Bell, 15 Nov 1971 (PDD 29608); Waikato, Waipa, Awaroa Valley, near Pirongia, P. Bell, 17 Feb 1972 (PDD 29835).
References:
Buchanan PK, Ryvarden LR 2000. An annotated checklist of polypore and polypore-like fungi recorded from New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 38: 265-323.
Hood IA 1992: An illustrated guide to fungi on wood in New Zealand. Auckland, Auckland University Press. 424 p.
McKenzie EHC, Foggo MN 1989. Fungi of New Zealand subantarctic islands. New Zealand Journal of Botany 27: 91-100.