A crustose, very variable lichen, related to the genus Porpidia, differing in the rarely formed apothecia with a thalline margin. The lichen usually forms large light coatings that resemble some members of the broad-defined genera Aspicilia and Rimularia. However, it may be securely distinguished from them by the presence of an unknown chemical substance accompanied by trace amounts of gyrophoric acid and related substances. Most prominent are the species forms forming coatings with eye-visible, almost spherical isidia and a bluish prothallus. However, the isidia may be completely absent in some stages or populations.
This montane species grows on permanently humid, periodically flooded, mineral-rich siliceous rocks and boulders, e.g. in the splash zone of streams, in spring areas, or on rocks with water seepage in the corrie walls. In the Czech Republic, this is a rare species known only from a few localities in glacial cirques in the Krkonoše and Hrubý Jeseník Mts.
A relatively conspicuous parasymbiotic fungus Sagediopsis aquatica, which is species-specific to Koerberiella wimmeriana, was originally described incorrectly as lichen from the Velký kotel glacial cirque in the Krkonoše Mts in the Czech Republic (as Gongylia aquatica, Stein 1873).
Literature: Stein B. (1873): Nachträge zur Flechtenflora Schlesiens III. – Jahresbericht der Schlesischen Gesellschaft für vaterl. Cultur 50: 167–173. Rambold G., Hertel H. & Triebel D. (1990): Koerberiella wimmeriana (Lecanorales, Porpidiaceae) and its lichenicolous fungi. – Lichenologist 22: 225–240. Palice Z. (1999): New and noteworthy records of lichens in the Czech Republic. – Preslia 71: 289–336.
taxonomic classification:Ascomycota → Lecanoromycetes → Lecanorales → Lecideaceae → Koerberiella
All records: 2, confirmed 1. One click on a selected square displays particular record(s), including their source(s).