ITALIC 8.0

Aspicilia fluviatilis A. Nordin & Owe-Larss.

Lichenologist, 43: 30, 2011.

Synonyms: Aspicilia cinerea f. alpina Arnold ?

Distribution: N - TAA (Szczepańska & al. 2024).

Description: Thallus crustose-placodioid, episubstratic, cream-coloured, pale grey or ochraceous grey, partly with a brownish tinge, 0.2-0.5 mm thick, the inner part irregularly cracked-areolate, in outer part forming a dendroid branching pattern, the areoles smooth, flat to slightly convex, angular and 0.2-0.4 mm wide in central parts, elongated, radiating, branched and 0.5-1 mm long in marginal parts. Cortex paraplectenchymatous, obscured by norstictic acid crystals, c. 22-43 μm. thick, the cells c. 5-9 μm wide; epinecral layer up to 8 μm thick; medulla white, with abundant Ca-oxalate crystals; hypothallus absent or dark brown to black, visible between the areoles in the inner part of the thallus, sometimes also in the marginal zone. Apothecia lecanorine-aspicilioid, immersed to broadly attached, round to irregular, sometimes confluent, 0.2-0.7 mm across, 1-2(-4) per areole, with a dark brown to black, at first smooth but soon uneven, concave to slightly convex, sometimes grey-white pruinose (norstictic acid) disc, the thalline margin blackening in older apothecia, usually with a white inner rim. Proper exciple c. 40-55 μm thick in upper part, narrowing below; epithecium brown-green (Caesiocinerea-green), N+ green, K+ red-brown; hymenium colourless, 50-100 μm high; paraphyses branched and anastomosing, the apical cells mainly moniliform, subglobose, up to 3.5 μm wide; hypothecium colourless, 40-90 μm high. Asci 8-spored, clavate, the thin outer coat K/I+ blue, the wall and apical dome K/I-. Ascospores 1-celled, hyaline, broadly ellipsoid, 15-25(-28) x (5-)7-13(-16) μm. Pycnidia rare, the wall pigmented in upper part only. Conidia thread-like, 11-17 x c. 1 μm. Photobiont chlorococcoid. Spot tests: thallus and sometimes apothecial disc (pruina) K+ yellow turning red (needle-like crystals), C-, KC-, P+ yellow orange. Chemistry: norstictic acid in cortex and in the pruina of the apothecia; Caesiocinerea-green pigment in the epithecium.

Note: a rare silicicolous species growing close to running water or on humid scree slopes, known from the mountains of Siberia and Scandinavia, and recently found also in the Czech Republic (Tatra Mtns.) and the Italian Alps (Paneveggio-Pale di San Martino). For further details see the original description and Szczepańska & al. (2024).

Growth form: Crustose placodiomorph

Substrata: rocks

Photobiont: green algae other than Trentepohlia

Reproductive strategy: mainly sexual

Commonnes-rarity: (info)

Alpine belt: extremely rare

Subalpine belt: absent

Oromediterranean belt: absent

Montane belt: absent

Submediterranean belt: absent

Padanian area: absent

Humid submediterranean belt: absent

Humid mediterranean belt: absent

Dry mediterranean belt: absent

pH of the substrata:

1

2

3

4

5

(info)

Solar irradiation:

1

2

3

4

5

(info)

Aridity:

1

2

3

4

5

(info)

Eutrophication:

1

2

3

4

5

(info)

Poleotolerance:

0

1

2

3

(info)

Altitudinal distribution:

1

2

3

4

5

6

(info)

Predictive model

Courtesy Katarzyna Szczepańska

WRSL-7949, collected by Ferdinand Arnold in 1888 in the Italian Alps.