Forty-eight species of Pseudocyphellaria Vainio are recorded and described from New Zealand, and their known distributions there are mapped. Details of the chemistry, ecology, ecophysiology, and biogeography of Pseudocyphellaria are presented, together with a key to species; the generic concept and infrageneric classification are briefly discussed. Pseudocyphellaria corbettii, P. haywardiorum, P. jamesii, P. lindsayi, P. nermula, and P. wilkinsii are newly described, and the new combination, P. pickeringii (Tuck.) D. Galloway, is proposed.