LICHALP

Caeruleum heppii (Hepp ex Arnold) K. Knudsen & Arcadia

Syn.: Acarospora heppii Hepp ex Arnold, Myriospora heppii Nägeli ex Hepp nom. inval.

Lichenised.

Substrate: calciferous rocks, intermediate rocks (such as calciferous schists)

Altitudinal range: from the mesomediterranean belt (potential vegetation: evergreen broad-leaved forests dominated by Quercus ilex) to the montane belt (potential vegetation: deciduous forests dominated by Fagus sylvatica and closed coniferous forests with Picea abies)

Note: an easily overlooked early coloniser of small calcareous pebbles in dry grasslands, which also occurs on concrete and mortar in small settlements and on walls of calciferous sandstone; widespread in the Alps below the subalpine belt, but only locally common.