LICHALP

Bryostigma muscigenum (Th. Fr.) Frisch & G. Thor

Syn.: Arthonia leucodontis (Poelt & Döbbeler) Coppins, Arthonia muscigena Th. Fr., Bryostigma leucodontis Poelt & Döbbeler

Lichenised.

Substrate: bark, living mosses

Altitudinal range: from the montane belt (potential vegetation: deciduous forests dominated by Fagus sylvatica and closed coniferous forests with Picea abies) to the subalpine belt (potential vegetation: open, taiga-like forests dominated by Larix decidua and/or Pinus cembra and Rhododendron)

Note: a species with a strongly reduced thallus containing a chlorococcoid photobiont, and minute, hemispherical ascomata, sometimes confused with Arthonia apatetica; it grows on the bark of deciduous trees, but also on epiphytic bryophytes (e.g. Leucodon sciuroides) and on leaves in humid forests; widespread in the Alps, but probably often overlooked