A lichen with a dark grey crustose thallus, a red-brown to dark violet-brown (K+ purple-brown) hypothecium, and ascospores measuring 14–16 × 4.5–6 µm, producing miriquidic acid. A very similar species is M. subplumbea, which differs in having a colourless hypothecium and smaller ascospores (c. 10–13 × 5–6 µm).
Miriquidica griseoatra s. str. is a boreal-montane species reaching the lower alpine belt, preferring long-term moist habitats such as rocks near waterfalls and boulders in or close to snow beds. In Central Europe it is rare, known only from the High Tatras and the Krkonoše Mountains, from which it was described. The type material originates from Úpská jáma („im Aupengrunde“) in the Obří důl glacial cirque, collected in 1824 by J. v. Flotow. No verified recent records of this species are known from the Czech Republic. In the Krkonoše Mountains, the similar M. subplumbea is common, but it prefers drier and more exposed sites.
Literature: Hafellner J., Obermayer W. & Tretiach M. (2014): Miriquidica invadens, an obligate youth parasite on Sporastatia, with remarks and a key to species of the M. griseoatra group. – Lichenologist 46: 303–331. /// Malíček J. & Steinová J. (2025): Contribution to lichen biota of the Krkonoše Mountains, the highest Czech mountain range. – Herzogia 38: 308–335.
taxonomic classification:Ascomycota → Lecanoromycetes → Lecanorales → Lecanoraceae → Miriquidica
All records: 2, confirmed 0. One click on a selected square displays particular record(s), including their source(s).