LICHALP

Thelopsis melathelia Nyl.

Syn.: Sagedia melathelia (Nyl.) Jatta, Sagedia rugosa Anzi, Thelopsis rugosa (Anzi) Jatta, Thelopsis umbratula Nyl.

Lichenised.

Substrate: living mosses, plant debris, calciferous soil,

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: an arctic-alpine, circumpolar species found on moribund bryophytes, humic soil and plant remains over more or less calcareous substrata; widespread throughout the Alps.