LICHALP

Verrucaria hydrela Ach.

Syn.: Verrucaria denudata Zschacke, Verrucaria hydrophila Orange

Lichenised.

Substrate: , siliceous 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: on siliceous pebbles in humid-shaded situations (e.g. in open woodlands), sometimes on boulders in creeks, but never submerged for long periods, usually in upland areas but rarely reaching above treeline. Several records need confirmation. For nomenclatural matters, we partly follow Roux et coll. (2014: 1246), and partly the suggestion by Thüs (see Nimis 2016) to use the name V. hydrophila Orange only for sequenced material with an ITS sequence that fits the one published for the type, which also has a subgelatinous thallus and a widely spreading involucrellum.