LICHALP

Verrucaria hochstetteri Fr. subsp. hochstetteri var. obtecta (Müll. Arg.) Clauzade & Cl. Roux

Syn.: Verrucaria hochstetteri Fr. var. obtecta (Müll. Arg.) Clauzade & Cl. Roux, Verrucaria obtecta Müll. Arg.

Lichenised. Poorly known taxon.

Substrate: 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: a variety with an endolithic thallus, entirely immersed ascomata detectable only by the dots of the ostioles, lacking both an involucrellum and a protruding rim, and ovoid ascospores (to c. 30 µm long); based on type from Egypt, the conspecificity of Central European specimens needs confirmation; the distribution in the Alps is difficult to interpret, since the variety was not always distinguished.