LICHALP

Verrucaria praerupta Anzi

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: closely related to V. nigrescens, but differing in several important morphological characters, this species occurs on calcareous rocks in upland areas; from the Alps there are a few scattered records.