LICHALP

Cladonia stellaris (Opiz) Pouzar & Vězda

Syn.: Cenomyce stellaris Opiz, Cladina alpestris auct. non (L.) Nyl., Cladina stellaris (Opiz) Brodo, Cladonia aberrans (Abbayes) Stuckenb., Cladonia alpestris auct. non (L.) Rabenh.

Lichenised.

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

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 circumpolar, subarctic-subalpine species found in wind-protected sites with a long snow cover; widespread throughout the Alps, but generally rare.