Pycnora sorophora (Vain.) Hafellner

Pycnora sorophora is a grey-white to yellowish sorediate species with an almost immersed to quite conspicuous thallus. It contains alectorialic acid (C+ red, Pd+ yellow). Black apothecia are only rarely formed. It is a paraphyletic taxon and might represent sorediate forms of P. praestabilis and P. xanthococca (Bendiksby & Timdal 2013).

The lichen is a typical species associated with hard wood of coniferous trees or oak, but also with acidic bark (most commonly pines, sometimes also spruces). It prefers relic stands, such as rock outcrops, screes, relic pine forests and pine peatlands or montane spruce forests. In central Europe, the species is quite common on suitable stands but often overlooked and not reported. In the Czech Republic, it is scattered to locally abundant, mainly in montane areas and rocky river valleys from lowlands to mountains.

Literature: Bendiksby M. & Timdal E. (2013): Molecular phylogenetics and taxonomy of Hypocenomyce sensu lato (Ascomycota: Lecanoromycetes): Extreme polyphyly and morphological/e­cological convergence. – Taxon 62: 940–956.

Ascomycota → Lichinomycetes → Candelariales → Pycnoraceae → Pycnora