LICHALP

Toninia opuntioides (Vill.) Timdal

Syn.: Lichen opuntioides Vill., ?Thalloidima bormuelleri Stein, ?Toninia bornmuelleri (Stein) Zahlbr.

Lichenised.

Substrate: calciferous soil, calciferous rocks

Altitudinal range: from the submediterranean/colline belt (potential vegetation: mixed deciduous forests dominated by Quercus and Carpinus) 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: an arctic to temperate, circumpolar lichen found often amongst bryophytes, always associated to cyanobacterial colonies or cyanobacterial lichens when young; widespread throughout the Alps.