LICHALP

Polyblastia cupularis A. Massal. var. crepaturae (Zschacke) Zschacke

Lichenised. Poorly known taxon.

Substrate: calciferous rocks,

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 critical taxon distinguished from the typical variety by the presence of gloeohyphae in and below the algal layer; on calcareous rocks, ecology otherwise poorly known, with scattered records from Eastern and Central Europe; rare in the Alps but probably not always distinguished.