Plants of the Gila Wilderness
Presented in Association with the
Western New Mexico University Department
of Natural Sciences
Usnea cavernosa Tuck.
Pitted Beard Lichen
Usnea cavernosa is our most obvious, long and pendent (drooping) Beard Lichen. It seems to prefer
Picea (spruce). It is unusual in Usnea in that it does not have isidea, soredia or papillae. The larger axes are pitted
and scarred but rarely circumferentially cracked. The medulla is described as "lax". Since spruces prefer upper elevation, that is where you find U. cavernosa in the Gila National Forest.
Please click on an image for a larger file.
Usnea cavernosa, photo Russ Kleinman, Jason Roback & Karen Blisard, Gila NF, S. Fork of Negrito Creek near
Gwynn Tank on a spruce, October 17, 2020
Usnea cavernosa, larger axis with pitting but not cracked, photo Russ Kleinman, Jason Roback & Karen Blisard, Gila NF, S. Fork of Negrito Creek near Gwynn Tank on a spruce, October 17, 2020
Usnea cavernosa, note lack of isidia, papillae and soredia, photo Russ Kleinman, Jason Roback & Karen Blisard, Gila NF, S. Fork of Negrito Creek near Gwynn Tank on a spruce, October 17, 2020
Usnea cavernosa, note lack of isidia, papillae and soredia, photo Russ Kleinman, Jason Roback & Karen Blisard, Gila NF, S. Fork of Negrito Creek near Gwynn Tank on a spruce, October 17, 2020
Usnea cavernosa, photomicrograph of cross section of main axis, photo Russ Kleinman, Jason Roback & Karen Blisard, Gila NF, S. Fork of Negrito Creek near Gwynn Tank on a spruce, October 17, 2020
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