Bristly Beard Lichen (Usnea hirta)
--Habitat: Open woods at higher elevations
--Substrate: Conifer and hardwood trunks, branches, and canopy twigs; old weathered wood (e.g., fence posts)
--Isidia: Lacking, but has abundant isidia-like spiny fibrils
--Soredia: Absent or sparse
--Distinctive Features: Greenish-yellow thallus is tufted and spiny, resembling a bristly beard. Attached to the substrate by a pale to brownish (but not black) basal holdfast. Branches are usually ridged and angular (rather than round in cross-section), and are cloaked with spine-like fibrils that look similar to isidia. The cord within the branches and fibrils is white, as is the medulla.
--Notes: All Usnea species have a dense internal cord surrounded by medulla and cortex (Usnea means rope-like). If you hold a branch between thumb and forefinger and strip off the softer outer tissues, you can see this unique cord that gives the lichen support. WV has 14 Usnea species, some growing as small tufts and others as long beards, but this is the only tufted Usnea completely cloaked in spiny fibrils and generally lacking soredia.
@dutchothotmailcom Thank you, Esther! Lichens come in all kinds of colors. Many are a grayish green but there are reds, oranges, golds and even purples, too. I just shoot what I find growing on my patch.
