LICHALP

Micarea melaena (Nyl.) Hedl.

Syn.: Bacidia melaena (Nyl.) Zahlbr., Biatora stizenbergeri Hepp, Bilimbia melaena (Nyl.) Arnold, Catillaria constristans sensu H. Magn., Lecidea ilyophora Stirt., Lecidea melaena Nyl.

Lichenised.

Substrate: lignum, bark, acidic soil (mostly on siliceous substrata), plant debris

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: a cool-temperate to circumboreal-montane species found on decomposed lignum of old stumps, but also on plant debris, siliceous rocks and soil rich in humus, mostly in upland areas; widespread throughout the Alps.