Altitudinal distribution: subalpine belt (potential vegetation: open, taiga-like forests dominated by Larix decidua and/or Pinus cembra and Rhododendron)
Note: a species with a yellowish blue-green thallus composed of granules and subspherical areoles partly transforming in equally coloured soredia, based on a type from Northern Karelia; on siliceous rocks in windy situations; very rare in the Alps, apparently more common in Scandinavia.
