Bunodophoron melanocarpum (Sw.) Wedin

Bunodophoron melanocarpum is currently one of the rarest Czech macrolichens. Its last populations survive only in the Adršpašsko-Teplické skály area. It used to be locally common also in other sandstone regions in the North of the country (České Švýcarsko National Park, Český ráj, Česká Lípa region) in the past. However, probably in consequence of acid rain and the disruption of the meso-climatic condition, it has got extinct there. It is a rare lichen to whole Europe, exhibiting a significant oceanic tendency. Besides oceanic regions, it rarely occurs in humid, microclimatically stable habitats (such as ravines). Considering the ongoing climatic change, we expect its future decline. It is a cosmopolitan species often growing on mossy tree trunks and mossy siliceous rocks. From a similar * Sphaerophorus* species, it differs in flattened thallus branches.

Literature: Liška J., Palice Z. & Dětinský R. (1998): Změny v rozšíření vzácných a ohrožených lišejníků v České republice I. – Příroda, Praha, 12: 131–144.

Ascomycota → Lecanoromycetes → Lecanorales → Sphaerophoraceae → Bunodophoron