Thamnolia is a conspicuous lichen with thalli resembling scattered, bleached “little bones”. It produces two chemotypes: (1) with baeomycesic and squamatic acids (UV+ white) and (2) with thamnolic acid (UV–). Thamnolia vermicularis s. str. produces only the thamnolic-acid chemotype (UV–); otherwise, the two species can be distinguished practically only using molecular methods (Onut-Brännström et al. 2018). In the Czech Republic, only T. subuliformis has been confirmed with certainty.
Thamnolia species are unmistakable and iconic components of arctic-alpine tundra. They occur mainly on acidic soil and, in Central Europe, are typical associates of exposed alpine habitats above the treeline. In the Czech Republic, they are known from the summit areas of the Krkonoše Mountains, Hrubý Jeseník Mountains, Šumava Mountains and Králický Sněžník Mountains. In the Krkonoše Mountains, they are still locally abundant on the highest peaks. In the Hrubý Jeseník Mountains, only a small patch was confirmed in 2024 on Mt Vozka; on the remaining peaks it has most likely disappeared. On the Czech side of the Šumava Mountains, Thamnolia has been recorded only at Jezerní stěna above Černé jezero Lake (Hilitzer 1929), and only a single historical record exists from the Králický Sněžník Mountains (Flotow 1850). Thamnolia habitats are threatened primarily by climate change and are gradually being overgrown by competitively stronger vascular plants.
Literature: Flotow J. (1850): Lichenes Florae Silesiae. – Jahresbericht der Schlesischen Gesellschaft der Vaterländische Kultur 27 (1849): 98–135. /// Hilitzer A. (1929): Addenda ad lichenographiam Bohemiae. Series III. (Species in Bohemia novae asterisco notatae sunt.). – Acta Botanica Bohemica 8: 104–118. /// Grünwaldová V. (1970): Beitrag zur Problematik der Gattung Thamnolia Ach. in der Tschecholowakei. – Biológia 25: 49–55. /// Onut-Brännström I., Johannesson H. & Tibell L. (2018): Thamnolia tundrae sp. nov., a cryptic species and putative glacial relict. – Lichenologist 50: 59–75. /// 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 → Pertusariales → Icmadophilaceae → Thamnolia
Occurrence in the Czech Republic
All records: 56, confirmed 38. One click on a selected square displays particular record(s), including their source(s).