LICHALP

Gyalolechia aurea (Schaer.) A. Massal.

Syn.: Caloplaca aurea (Schaer.) Th. Fr., Lecidea aurea Schaer., Thalloidima aureum (Schaer.) Müll. Arg.

Lichenised.

Substrate: calciferous soil, calciferous rocks

Altitudinal range: from the montane belt (potential vegetation: deciduous forests dominated by Fagus sylvatica and closed coniferous forests with Picea abies) 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 species of the mountains of Central and Southern Europe, found on plant debris and mosses in fissures and cracks of calcareous rocks and dolomite, with optimum above treeline; widespread but not always common in the Alps.