Usnea cavernosa Tuck.

in Agassiz, Lake Superior: 171, 1850.
Synonyms: Usnea arnoldiana Zahlbr.; Usnea microcarpa Arnold
Distribution: N - Frl, Ven (Ravera & al. 2022), TAA (Nascimbene & al. 2006e, 2007b, 2022), Lomb, Piem, Lig.
Description: Thallus fruticose-filamentous, greenish, flaccid and pendulous, up to 60 cm long, branching isotomic-dichotomously with distinctly parallel branches. Main branches uneven in thickness, conspicuously foveolate and weakly ridged, sometimes with annular cracks, often with thin, fusiform-elongate pseudocyphellae, pale at base, without or with very few papillae, tubercles and fibrils; lateral branches not constricted at attachment point, usually without fibrils, very rarely with scarce, irregularly distributed, 1-3(5) mm long fibrils. Soralia and isidiomorphs absent. Cortex smooth, thin (3-5 % of branch thickness), shiny in longitudinal section, with thin transverse cracks; medulla white, dense, thick (27-32 %); central axis white, often sinuous (23-35 %). Apothecia not observed in Italian material. Photobiont chlorococcoid. Spot tests: cortex K-, C-, KC-, P-; medulla K+ red or rarely K-, C-, KC-, P+ yellow to orange or rarely P-. Chemistry: usnic acid in cortex; medulla with salazinic acid as a main substance or (very rarely) without medullary substances.
Note: this species seems to be more frequent in central and Southern Europe; it is restricted to damp montane to subalpine forests, on branches of coniferous and deciduous trees. All Italian records are from the Alps.
Growth form: Fruticose filamentous
Substrata: bark
Photobiont: green algae other than Trentepohlia
Reproductive strategy: mainly sexual

Commonnes-rarity: (info)

Alpine belt: absent
Subalpine belt: rare
Oromediterranean belt: absent
Montane belt: rather rare
Submediterranean belt: absent
Padanian area: absent
Humid submediterranean belt: absent
Humid mediterranean belt: absent
Dry mediterranean belt: absent

pH of the substrata:

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(info)

Solar irradiation:

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Aridity:

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Eutrophication:

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Poleotolerance:

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Altitudinal distribution:

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Predictive model
Herbarium samples
Index Fungorum GBIF

Tiiu Tõrra Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Estonia


Tiiu Tõrra; Owner: Tiiu Tõrra - Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Estonia


Tiiu Tõrra; Owner: Tiiu Tõrra - Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Estonia


Tiiu Tõrra; Owner: Tiiu Tõrra - Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Estonia


Tiiu Tõrra; Owner: Tiiu Tõrra - Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Estonia


Courtesy Danièle et Olivier Gonnet - Source: https://www.afl-lichenologie.fr/Photos_AFL/Photos_AFL_U/Usnea_cavernosa.htm
France, 18/9/2011 - sur pin - Champigny-le-Haut - Savoie


Courtesy Danièle et Olivier Gonnet - Source: https://www.afl-lichenologie.fr/Photos_AFL/Photos_AFL_U/Usnea_cavernosa.htm
France, 18/9/2011 - sur pin - Champigny-le-Haut - Savoie


Courtesy Danièle et Olivier Gonnet - Source: https://www.afl-lichenologie.fr/Photos_AFL/Photos_AFL_U/Usnea_cavernosa.htm
France, 18/9/2011 - sur pin - Champigny-le-Haut - Savoie


Courtesy Danièle et Olivier Gonnet - Source: https://www.afl-lichenologie.fr/Photos_AFL/Photos_AFL_U/Usnea_cavernosa.htm
France, 18/9/2011 - sur pin - Champigny-le-Haut - Savoie