Species: Usnea longissima
Beard Lichen
Show on Lists
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Fungi
Phylum
Ascomycota
Class
Ascomycetes
Order
Lecanorales
Family
Parmeliaceae
Genus
Usnea
NatureServe
Classification
Informal Taxonomy
Fungi/Lichens - Lichens
Formal Taxonomy
Fungi - Ascomycota - Ascomycetes - Lecanorales - Parmeliaceae - Usnea
Ecology and Life History
Short General Description
disperses mostly, if not entirely, from small pieces carried to new localities.
Reproduction Comments
Sexual reproduction via apothecia is rare in Usnea longissima. Asexual reproduction by soredia or isidia is also rare. The most common means of reproduction is through the fragmentation of the thalli, which are dispersed short distances by gravity and longer distances by high winds and birds (Keon 2002).
Ecology Comments
Usnea longissima is an indicator of old-growth forests and it has never been recorded outside forests (www.toyen.uio.no).
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G4
Global Status Last Reviewed
2006-06-30
Global Status Last Changed
2006-02-01
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.BC=S4&CA.QC=SNR&US.AK=SNR&US.CA=S4&US.OR=S4&US.WA=S2&US.WI=S1" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
<i>Usnea longissima</i> is restricted to boreal coniferous regions where it has an incompletely circumpolar distribution, with occurrences in Europe, Asia, North America (Motyka 1936-38, Ahti 1977a) and Africa (by Tuckerman 1848, as reported in Keon 2001). It has been collected from mountains in China, India, Canada (British Columbia, Quebec, and Ontario), Indonesia, Europe (Scandinavia and Spain) and the USA (Alaska, far north western, and New England states). The distribution was previously considered to be continental (Ahlner 1948, Gams 1961); from oceanic parts of Norway (Jorgensen & Ovstedal 1975, Gauslaa et al. 1992), and from the USA the species is more common near coasts (Ahti 1977a, Esseen et al. 1981). It has been reported from slopes above 3200 m in the Hengduan Mountains, above 3800 m in the greater Liangshan Mountains in southwestern Sichuan province, and also above 2200 m at the western edge of the Sichuan basin, China. It has also been collected from the Simla Mountains of India. In the USA, the range is disjunct and includes Alaska to California and west of the Cascade Range crest (www.fs.fed.us) and the New England states, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont (members.aol.com; see web citations). The distribution in Scandinavia was mapped by Ahlner (1948) and updated distribution data are given by Esseen & Ericson (1982), Esseen (1991), and Andersson & Williamson (1993).