Vezdaea aestivalis (Ohlert) Tscherm.-Woess & Poelt

An ephemeral lichen, the largest and best known Vezdaea species. Its short-lived apothecia may exceptionally be up to 1 mm large, but usually they are half the size or even smaller. When wet, they are pale, partly transparent and verrucose due to the protruding tops of the asci. In dying samples, dry or old herbarium material, the apothecia turn dark and are often shapeless. The species is also characterized by its glossy thallus, which is partly immersed and partly episubstratal, film-like, with occasional spiny goniocysts (Tschermak-Woess & Poelt 1976). It is also known for a unique conidia formation from thallus hyphae (Vězda 1970, as Pachyascus byssaceus). However, it is hardly ever found in that state.

Vezdaea aestivalis colonizes various types of organic and inorganic substrates, most commonly bryophytes, on which it is probably dependent at the beginning of the life cycle and is able to form a compact thallus under the bryophyte cuticule (Tschermak-Woess & Poelt 1976). Where abundant, it also grows on humus, mineral soil, bark, wood, roots, rocks or other lichens. It prefers more humid and shadier microstands, usually valley or old-growth forests, but also anthropogenic substrates, such as old walls in forests, abandoned quarries etc. It does not tolerate an acidic environment and prefers calcareous areas. In the Czech Republic, it has been most commonly recorded in humid limestone areas, mainly the Moravian karst.

Literature: Vězda A. (1970): Neue oder wenig bekannte Flechten in der Tschechoslowakei. I. – Folia Geobotanica et Phytotaxonomica 5: 307–337. Tschermak-Woess E. & Poelt J. (1976): Vezdaea, a peculiar lichen genus, and its phycobiont. – In: Brown D. H., Hawksworth D. L. & Bailey R. H. [eds], Lichenology: Progress and Problems, p. 89–105, Academic Press, London & New York.

taxonomic classification:

Ascomycota Lichinomycetes Vezdaeales Vezdaeaceae Vezdaea



Red List (Liška & Palice 2010):NT – near threatened
Red List (Malíček 2023):C3 – endangered

Occurrence in the Czech Republic

All records: 27, confirmed 22. One click on a selected square displays particular record(s), including their source(s).

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Altitude preferences

Distribution Timeline

Substrate type

Substrate preferences

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