A synthesis on the distribution of the protected lichen species Xanthoparmelia pulvinaris
in Hungary is provided. In addition to summarising the herbarium and published data,
we have significantly increased the number of known occurrences with systematic field
mapping and clarified the distribution pattern of the species in Hungary. The species
occurs in the sandy areas of the Great Hungarian and the Little Hungarian Plains,
in the southern and southeastern margins and sporadically in the inner hilly landscapes
of the Transdanubian Mountain Ranges. Xanthoparmelia pulvinaris is a characteristic
species of the open steppe habitats, further important evidence of the plant-geography
and historical vegetation development relationships between the sandy grasslands of
the plains and the limestone and dolomite rocky grasslands of the middle mountains.
Its stronger stands persisted on the eastern edge of the Vértes Mts and in some sand
steppes of good natural condition of the Great Hungarian Plain. Most of its mapped
occurrences represent small, vulnerable populations.
