Ochrolechia upsaliensis is a species of crustose lichen in the family Ochrolechiaceae. Found in the Northern Hemisphere, it is commonly known as the tundra saucer lichen.[2]
The lichen was formally described as a new species by Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 work Species Plantarum. He placed it in the eponymous genus Lichen, as he did with all of the 80-odd lichens he described in this work.[3] Abramo Bartolommeo Massalongo transferred the taxon to the genus Ochrolechia in 1852.[4]
The thallus of Ochrolechia upsaliensis is white to grayish-white, and crustose; the thallus thickens with age. The texture of the thallus surface ranges from smooth to granular. The lichen produces abundant apothecia; these reproductive structures are shallowly saucer-shaped, measuring 0.5–3 mm in diameter, with a pale-buff disc. The ascospores typically number 8 per ascus; they are ellipsoid with dimensions of 31–69 by 23–37 μm.[5]
Ochrolechia upsaliensis reacts negatively to all standard lichen spot tests.[5]
Ochrolechia upsaliensis has a Northern Hemisphere distribution, having been reported from Europe, arctic areas of Alaska and Canada, Greenland, and mountainous areas of the United States. It also occurs in mountainous areas of Europe.[5] There, it prefers habitats with calciferous soil and plant debris, and grows optimally above the treeline. In the Alps, where it is widespread, Ochrolechia upsaliensis reaches the Nival zone.[6] It typically overgrows mosses, sedges, grasses, or grows on the ground; less frequently, it has been recorded growing on rock.[5] In Greenland, it is a component of the lichen-rich biological soil crust.[7]
Ochrolechia upsaliensis is a species of crustose lichen in the family Ochrolechiaceae. Found in the Northern Hemisphere, it is commonly known as the tundra saucer lichen.
