An overlooked species and the only representative of the genus Heteroplacidium in the Czech Republic. It resembles, for example, Verrucaria macrostoma. It is characterized, among other features, by a brown, areolate to minutely squamulose thallus, immersed perithecia lacking an involucrellum, and smaller, relatively broad ascospores (11–18 × 8–10 µm). It is sometimes synonymized with the very similar H. fusculum, which differs in its parasitic growth on the lichen Circinaria calcarea, smaller conidia and ascospores, and the structure of the medulla (Breuss 1994, Prieto et al. 2010). The taxonomic delimitation of these taxa requires further detailed study.
Heteroplacidium compactum grows on sun-exposed limestone or calcium-rich siliceous rocks and also on anthropogenic substrates (e.g. walls), sometimes even on other lichens. In Europe it occurs mainly in warmer regions from the Mediterranean to southern Scandinavia. In the Czech Republic the species was first published only relatively recently from the Český kras region (Vondrák et al. 2007, as Verrucaria compacta). Later, records were added from the Česká Lípa region, Podyjí National Park, the Moravian Karst, the Křivoklát region, and Prague. It is probably more frequent in the country but overlooked.
Literature: Breuss O. (1994): Über einige wenig bekannte Verrucaria-Arten (Lichenes, Verrucariaceae). – Österreichische Zeitschrift für Pilzkunde 3: 15–20. Prieto M., Aragón G. & Martínez I. (2010): The genus Catapyrenium s. lat. ( Verrucariaceae) in the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands. – Lichenologist 42: 637–684. Vondrák J., Kocourková J., Slavíková-Bayerová Š., Breuss O., Sparrius L. & Hawksworth D. L. (2007): Noteworthy Lichens, Lichenicolous and other allied Fungi recorded in Bohemian Karst, Czech Republic. ‒ Bryonora 40: 31‒40.
taxonomic classification:Ascomycota → Eurotiomycetes → Verrucariales → Verrucariaceae → Heteroplacidium
most frequented synonyms:Verrucaria compactaAll records: 10, confirmed 10. One click on a selected square displays particular record(s), including their source(s).