Lecanora microloba

Lecanora microloba is a species of crustose and areolate lichen in the family Lecanoraceae. Found in Poland, it was formally described as a new species in 2010 by Lucyna Śliwa and Adam Flakus. The type specimen was found by the second author in the Hińczowy Żleb gully in the High Tatra Mountains (Western Carpathians) at an altitude of 2200 m. Here, in vegetation characteristic of the subnival belt (i.e., just below the snow line and above the tree line), the lichen was found growing on granite rock that was mylonitized. Lecanora microloba contains secondary compounds: gyrophoric acid, usnic acid, and zeorin as major metabolites, and an unidentified terpene. A distinguishing characteristic of the lichen is the presence of coarse granules in the epithecium (the tissue layer above the asci) that are distinctly bright when shone with polarized light. The specific epithet microloba refers to the minute lobe-like areoles in the thallus margins.