LICHALP

Xanthoria elegans (Link) Th. Fr. subsp. orbicularis (Schaer.) Clauzade & Cl. Roux

Syn.: Parmelia elegans (Link) Ach. var. orbicularis Schaer. nom.illeg.!, Xanthoria elegans (Link) Th. Fr. var. ectaniza sensu Clauzade & Rondon non (Nyl.) Clauzade & Rondon

Lichenised. Poorly known taxon.

Substrate: calciferous rocks

Altitudinal range: from the montane belt (potential vegetation: deciduous forests dominated by Fagus sylvatica and closed coniferous forests with Picea abies) 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 name applied to morphs with flat, relatively wide (2-3 mm) but short lobes, not consistently distinguished; on rocks at high altitudes; distribution incompletely documented but evidently rather common and widespread in the Alps; the purported basionym is illegitimate.