Stereocaulon tometosum is characterized by pseudopodetia, which are adpressed to the substrate, dense grey tomentum on the underside and abundant apothecia. Generally, it grows on mineral and sandy soil, but can also be found on rocks. The species prefers open habitats, such as grasslands, railway embankments and pine forests. It is scattered in central Europe. In the Czech Republic, S. tomentosum used to be locally abundant (Černohorský et al. 1956) but it has not been recorded recently. This dramatic decline might have resulted from excess acidification of substrates in the second half of the 20th century and the disappearance of suitable habitats.
In the 19th century, S. tometosum var. alpestre Flot. was described from the Czech side of the the Krkonoše Mts. Some authors consider it a separate species S. alpestre (e. g., Oset 2014). Its type material was damaged during the WWII (Lamb 1977), making further studies impossible. This taxon is distinguished by phyllocladia, which are verrucose to strongly lacerate-squamulose in the lower part of the short pseudopodetia (Oset 2014).
Literature: Černohorský Z., Nádvorník J. & Servít M. (1956): Klíč k určování lišejníků ČSR. I. díl. – Nakladatelství ČSAV, Praha. Oset M. (2014): The lichen genus Stereocaulon (Schreb.) Hoffm. in Poland – a taxonomic and ecological study. – Monographiae Botanicae 104: 1–81. Lamb I. M. (1977): A conspectus of the lichen genus Stereocaulon (Schreb.) Hoffm. – Journal of the Hattori Botanical Laboratory 43: 191–355.
taxonomic classification:Ascomycota → Lecanoromycetes → Lecanorales → Stereocaulaceae → Stereocaulon
All records: 18, confirmed 13. One click on a selected square displays particular record(s), including their source(s).