LICHALP

Protoparmelia hypotremella Herk, Spier & V. Wirth

Lichenised.

Substrate: bark, lignum

Altitudinal range: from the submediterranean/colline belt (potential vegetation: mixed deciduous forests dominated by Quercus and Carpinus) to the subalpine belt (potential vegetation: open, taiga-like forests dominated by Larix decidua and/or Pinus cembra and Rhododendron)

Note: a species only known in the sterile state, resembling Xylopsora caradocensis in the spreading, grey to olive thallus consisting of granules developing into extremely minute squamules which occasionally bear isidioid outgrowths; on bark and wood, both in forests and in rural landscapes; widespread in Europe from the lowlands to subalpine coniferous forests, but easily overlooked; the distributional gaps in Alps may be therefore artificial.