Subicular hyphae hyaline, thick-walled (up to 2 µm), cyanophilous, up to 11.5 µm wide. Cystidia hyaline, cylindrical, thick-walled, but wall becoming thinner towards the apex, septate with small prominent clamps, partly covered with a sheath of yellowishbrown crystalline material of about 1 µm thick, up to 500 x 7-10 µm. Basidia and other hymenial characters not seen. Spores hyaline, somewhat thickwalled, subglobose to ellipsoid, 4.5-6.5 x 4-5 µm (measured in Melzer's reagent and cotton blue in lactic acid), cyanophilous, not amyloid. In alkaline solutions the spores swell considerably, 4.5-7.5 (-8.5) x 3.5-4.5 X 4-6 µm.

Cunningham (1953, 1963) used the words "mucilaginous warts" in his description of the encrustation of the cystidia. This is understandable as the rather fine crystals are embedded in amorphous material; under pressure the encrustation breaks away from the cystidia as small plates. The encrustation dissolves in KOH.
Cunningham's measurements of the basidia (8-13 x 4-12 µm) seem to be an error. Although no basidia were recovered in our slides, it is clear from Cunningham's drawing and the description (subclavate, rarely cylindrical), that the actual width is much less than 12 µm.
The species strongly resembles Hypochnicium polonense (Bres.) Strid (=Kneiia polonensis Bres.), but differs in some minor characters. The encrustation of the cystidia of G. zealandica is darker than the nearly hyaline to pale yellowish crystals of H. polonense, and the spores are slightly smaller and more broadly ellipsoid. However, Eriksson & Ryvarden (1976) remarked in their description of H. polonense "a remarkable variation in the size of basidia and spores, and also a variation in spore shape, which may vary from almost allantoid to broadly ellipsoid in a single collection. However, these variations do not seem to be of any taxonomic significance." These observations are confirmed, although some collections had a stronger tendency towards cylindrical spores than others. We never observed allantoid spores; similar spores always turned out to be collapsed. An interesting observation is that in the type specimen of G. zealandica, and in most specimens of K. polonensis, spores of a Tomentella or Thelephora were seen.
Kneiffia polonensis (Fig. 2) has been placed in Hyphoderma Wallr. emend. Donk and more recently in Hypochnicium J. Eriksson but does not belong in either genus because of the texture of the basidiome, the wide subicular hyphae and the septate subicular cystidia.
Species of Candelabrochaete Boidin have similar cystidia, but they are formed by prolongation of the main axis of a basidial cluster. Moreover, Candelabrochaete species have hyphae which are not cyanophilous and are typically devoid of clamps.
We accept Jülich's combination Gyrophanopsis zealandica. As Kneiffia polonensis is only slightly different, it is included here also: Gyrophanopsis polonensis (Bres.) comb. nov. (basionym: Kneiffa polonensis Bres. - Ann. Mycol. 1: 102. 1903). Hyphodermopsis Jülich, typified by Kneiffia polonensis, is thus considered a synonym of Gyrophanopsis Jolich.

Holotype: on Prumnopitys taxifolia (D. Don) Laubenf. (=Podocarpus spicatus R. Br.), New Zealand, Auckland, Te Whaiti, coll. J.M. Dingley, Jun. 1951 (PDD 11449)