A new, fruticulose lichen genus with one species, Bartlettiella fragilis D. Galloway and P.M. Jørg., is described from several alpine localities in North Island. The taxonomic position of Bartlettiella is still uncertain, since no fruiting bodies are known. The genus has a green algal photobiont and produces gyrophoric acid. Melanelia inactiva P.M. Jørg., a sorediate species devoid of lichen chemistry, is also newly described; it occurs also in southern South America. The depsidone stictic acid is reported for the first time in the genus Bryoria, from a New Zealand specimen of B. indonesica. © 1990 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.