Plant Guide > Mosses and Lichens > Lichens > Genus Usnea > Bearded Lichen

Bearded Lichen

The Bearded Lichen, Usnea barbata, (L. ) Fr.

Habitat.-On trees, both living, and dead.

Vegetative organs (thallus).-Shrubby (fruticulose) often pendulous, greenish, covered with numerous radiating fibrils of the same colour; the interior tissue (medulla) consisting of a central cord surrounded by a cottony layer. The branches are circular (terete) in cross-section and are rough with papillae.

Fruiting organ (apothecia)-Shield-like (scutellaeform) with a pale disk.

Name.-The specific name barbata is the Latin for "bearded."