LICHALP

Toninia diffracta (A. Massal.) Zahlbr.

Syn.: Biatorina diffracta (A. Massal.) Jatta, Thalloidima diffractum (A. Massal.) A. Massal., Thalloidima vesiculare (Hoffm.) A. Massal. var. diffractum A. Massal., Toninia candida (Weber) Th. Fr. subsp. diffracta (A. Massal.) Hild. Baumgärtner

Lichenised.

Substrate: calciferous soil, calciferous rocks

Altitudinal range: from the mesomediterranean belt (potential vegetation: evergreen broad-leaved forests dominated by Quercus ilex) to the alpine belt (potential vegetation: treeless Alpine grasslands and tundras, to the lower limit of perennial snow and the equilibrium line of glaciers)

Note: a mainly southern eurasiatic species found in small fissures of steeply inclined faces of calcareous rocks, often on cyanobacteria or cyanobacterial lichens when young, sometimes on soil, with optimum at low altitudes, but exceptionally reaching the alpine belt; widespread throughout the Alps.