Sparria endlicheri (Garov.) Ertz & Tehler forme maritime

    Thallus crustose more or less spreading and sometimes rosette-like, rather thick 0.5-1 mm thick, very uneven, cracked, wrinkled, bumpy with growths (as if toothpaste had been spread), whitish-grey somewhat lilacin when young and in light and dry places, grey-lilac, greyish in more humid and less light places, becoming pale greyish-brown when drying or in herbarium; margin sometimes giving the appearance of being lobed, light brown, dark brown, not zoned. Upper surface covered with numerous soredia 50-100 µm in diameter agglomerated in sometimes globular-looking packets with crystals in their centre, greyish-brown-pinkish when young, then ochraceous brown or pale greyish-brown. Apothecia very rare, ovoid, rounded, elongated, etc. with slightly angular edge, 0.4-0.8 mm, appearing greyish from the bloom which covers them. Presence of pycnidia buried in the thallus, barely visible in the form of small dots 100-120 µm in diameter, blackish. Spores ovoid, enlarged at the top, 3-5 times septate, 14-20 x 5-7 µm. C+ red, K+ yellow or K- according to the authors (low K+ yellow according to our observations), KC+ red, P-, UV-. Photobiont: Trentepohlia. Form found on dry siliceous rocks in places sheltered from rain and direct sun from the xeric supralittoral zone to the aerohaline zone, it seems to be linked by intermediaries with the taxa coming inland which have a more grayish thallus and larger, more ochraceous globular clusters of soredia, see: Sparria endlicheri.

N.B. Species of Sclerophytetum circumscriptae frequently associated with Llimonea sorediata with black hypothallus and Peterjamesia circumscripta but also with certain forms Dirina massiliensis f. sorediata..