LICHALP

Umbilicaria pallens Poelt

Syn.: Gyrophora cinerascens Arnold var. pallens (Nyl.) Lamy, Umbilicaria atropruinosa Schaer. var. pallens Nyl., Umbilicaria subglabra (Nyl.) Harm. var. pallens (Nyl.) Frey

Lichenised.

Substrate: 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 silicicolous species resembling U. subglabra, but lacking thalloconidia and lower surface therefore pale greyish, regularly bearing apothecia with smooth discs; widespread in the mountains of SW Europe, with several scattered records from the Alps.