ITALIC 7.0

Lecanora aitema (Ach.) Hepp

Flecht. Eur.: nr. 69, 1853. Basionym: Lecidea aitema Ach. - K. Vetensk.-Akad. Nya Handl., 29: 261, 1808.

Synonyms: Lecanora symmicta var. aitema (Ach.) Th. Fr.; Lecanora symmicta var. saepincola (Ach.) Nyl.; Lecanora symmictera var. aitema (Ach.) Nyl.

Distribution: N - Frl, TAA (Dalla Torre & Sarnthein 1902, Nascimbene & al. 2007b), Lomb, Piem (Isocrono & al. 2004). C - Tosc.

Description: Thallus crustose, episubstratic, granular to irregularly areolate, dispersed or continuous, white to yellowish white, forming small patches. Apothecia distinctly lecanorine only when young, but soon appearing biatorine, sessile, 0.2-0.5 mm across, with a dark green, red-brown, olive-black or black (often piebald), strongly convex, epruinose disc, and a thin, smooth, soon excluded thalline margin. Epithecium yellowish brown to olive-green, with granules dissolving in K; hymenium colourless, 55-80 µm high; paraphyses branched and anastomosing, 2-2.5 µm thick, the apical cells only slightly swollen, up to 3.5 µm wide; hypothecium colourless. Asci 8-spored, clavate, very thin-walled, with a K/I+ blue, tall tholus penetrated by a faintly amyloid apical cushion, the wall K/I-, surrounded by a blue outer layer, Lecanora-type. Ascospores 1-celled, hyaline, narrowly ellipsoid, (10-)12-17 x 4.5-5.5 µm. Photobiont chlorococcoid. Spot tests: thallus K-, C-, KC+ faintly yellow, P-, UV+ pale orange. Chemistry: usnic acid, zeorin.

Note: on twigs of Calluna and other shrubs, more rarely on lignum and bark of coniferous trees and oaks. Closely related to L. symmicta, this species is included in the Italian red list of epiphytic lichens as “Endangered” (Nascimbene & al. 2013c).

Growth form: Crustose

Substrata: bark and lignum

Photobiont: green algae other than Trentepohlia

Reproductive strategy: mainly sexual

Commonnes-rarity: (info)

Alpine belt: absent

Subalpine belt: very rare

Oromediterranean belt: extremely rare

Montane belt: very rare

Submediterranean belt: absent

Padanian area: absent

Humid submediterranean belt: absent

Humid mediterranean belt: absent

Dry mediterranean belt: absent

pH of the substrata:

1

2

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4

5

(info)

Solar irradiation:

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5

(info)

Aridity:

1

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4

5

(info)

Eutrophication:

1

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5

(info)

Poleotolerance:

0

1

2

3

(info)

Altitudinal distribution:

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6

(info)

Predictive model

Herbarium samples

Index Fungorum GBIF

Leif Stridvall http://www.stridvall.se/la/galleries.php

Leif Stridvall http://www.stridvall.se/la/galleries.php