LICHALP

Caloplaca epierodens Cl. Roux & M. Bertrand

Syn.: Variospora epierodens (Cl. Roux & M. Bertrand) Cl. Roux & M. Bertrand

Lichenised.

Substrate:

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: a species of the C. dalmatica-group living as a parasite upon C. erodens, forming salmon-red thalli up to 1.5 cm in diam., with verruculose areoles separated by wide cracks, and broadly ellipsoid ascospores; on calcareous rocks with its host; so far only recorded from the Western Alps in France but likely to have a broader distribution.