LICHALP

Melanelia agnata (Nyl.) A. Thell

Syn.: Cetraria agnata (Nyl.) Kristinsson, Platysma agnatum Nyl.

Lichenised.

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

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: a rather neglected, arctic-alpine, circumpolar species growing on acid siliceous rocks near and above treeline. The type, collected by Arnold, is from the surroundings of Brenner Pass in South Tyrol.