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Athalia holocarpa agg.

ASCOMYCOTA | LECANOROMYCETES > TELOSCHISTALES > Teloschistaceae

Genus Caloplaca, meaning 'beautiful patches'

 

Common name:            Firedot lichen

Synonym:                     Caloplaca holocarpa

Habitat:                         Montane (in respect of this entry)

Substrata:                     Rock, occasionally timber

Growth form:                Saxicolous, lignicolous

Thallus:                  Crustose

Apothecia:                    Lecideine

BLS identity rating:        N/A

 

Broadly described as; thallus thin, typically reduced or only partially developed, yellowish-grey; apothecia usually abundant, scattered or grouped, and often distorted if crowded; discs yellow-orange to dark orange with lighter margins, which are thick when young, but becoming very narrow or barely visible as the apothecia matures and the discs become convex.

In Austria, where the specimen featured below was photographed, there's a 'mountain form' of the species where the apothecia are usually bright orange as a result of the conditions and exposure to the sun. In these photos we can see apothecia with both slightly sunken discs with reasonably thick margins, together with some that are presumably older where the discs have become raised and the margin reduced.

Although, thought to be Athalia holocarpa - the name that I was given - it's probably safer to treat this one in the broadest sense (sensu lato) as part of the aggregate assemblage of a number of similar species; more or less the same aggregate I believe that we use in Britain, albeit under the name of Caloplaca holocarpa agg.

The 'mountain form' primarily occurs on siliceous rock and is mostly frequently seen on isolated boulders, but is also occasionally found growing on wood. In fact, the photos here were taken on a very weathered, timber decking support beam, outside of a shepherd's hut in an alpine meadow.

Athalia holocarpa agg.

Fiss, North Tyrol, Western Austria

(alpine meadow, just below the subalpine zone at an altitude of 1487m)

Athalia holocarpa agg.

Fiss, North Tyrol, Western Austria

(alpine meadow, just below the subalpine zone at an altitude of 1487m)

Athalia holocarpa agg.
Athalia holocarpa agg.
Athalia holocarpa agg.
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