LICHALP

Catolechia wahlenbergii (Flot. ex Ach.) Körb.

Syn.: Buellia pulchella (Schaer.) Tuck., Buellia wahlenbergii (Flot. ex Ach.) Sheard, Catolechia galbula (DC.) Anzi, Catolechia pulchella (Schaer.) A. Massal., Lecidea galbula (DC.) Nyl., Lecidea pulchella Schaer., Lecidea wahlenbergii Flot. ex Ach., Psora galbula DC., Toninia galbula (DC.) Boistel

Lichenised.

Substrate: acidic soil (mostly on siliceous substrata), siliceous rocks, plant debris

Altitudinal range: from the subalpine belt (potential vegetation: open, taiga-like forests dominated by Larix decidua and/or Pinus cembra and Rhododendron) 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: an arctic-alpine, probably circumpolar lichen found on acid soil rich in humus and over bryophytes in fissures of vertical to overhanging siliceous rocks in cold, perennially humid situations; widespread in the Alps, but only locally common.