LICHALP

Aspicilia zonata (Ach.) R. Sant.

Syn.: Aspicilia waldrastensis (H. Magn.) Clauzade & Rondon, Lecanora waldrastensis H. Magn., Sagedia zonata Ach.

Lichenised.

Substrate: siliceous rocks

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 fertile silicicolous species with a grey, areolate thallus, sometimes with concentric marginal zones; the distribution is insufficiently known. The species has been frequently confused with A. caesiocinerea, from which it differs in the 8-spored asci, the slightly smaller spores, and the absence of aspicilin. Several records of A. caesiocinerea from upland areas could refer to this species.