Catolechia wahlengergii is a conspicuous arctic-alpine species, its thallus is lemon yellow due to rhizocarpic acid content as in some species of the genus Rhizocarpon, where it should also be included according to phylogenetic data (Miadlikowska et al. 2006). It differs from other related saxicolous lichens in non-halonate spores, more robust and relatively thick thallus and larger apothecia.
The species probably has a circumpolar distribution. It grows in cracks of siliceous rocks on soil rich in humus and on bryophytes in cold and humid localities. In the Czech Republic, it was historically only known from the Krkonoše and Hrubý Jeseník (Keprník) Mts. Recently, it has been found at a couple of places in the Labský důl valley (Halda et al. 2016). Near the Czech border, it has been known for a long time in the German part of the Šumava Mts, where it was recorded on the Jezerní stěna rock near the highest mountain top Grosser Arber by Poelt (1954).
Literature: Poelt J. (1954): Einige Moos- und Flechtenfunde der Böhmerwaldfahrt vom 18. bis 21. September 1953. – Berichte der Bayerischen Botanischen Gesellschaft 30: 167–168. Miadlikowska J. et al. (2006): New insights into classification and evolution of the Lecanoromycetes (Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota) from phylogenetic analyses of three ribosomal RNA- and two protein-coding genes. – Mycologia 98: 1088–1103. Halda J., Kučera J. & Koval Š. (2016): Atlas krkonošských mechorostů, lišejníků a hub 1 – mechorosty a lišejníky. – Vrchlabí: Správa KRNAP.
taxonomic classification:Ascomycota → Lecanoromycetes → Rhizocarpales → Rhizocarpaceae → Catolechia
Red List (Liška & Palice 2010):RE – extinct
Red List (Malíček 2023):C1 – critically endangered
Occurrence in the Czech Republic
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