LICHALP

Micarea incrassata Hedl.

Lichenised.

Substrate: living mosses, acidic soil (mostly on siliceous substrata)

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 widespread circumboreal species also known from the Southern Hemisphere, growing on acid soil in mountain heaths; apparently rare in the Alps, but perhaps overlooked.