ITALIC 8.0

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: cortex with usnic acid; 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:

1

2

3

4

5

(info)

Solar irradiation:

1

2

3

4

5

(info)

Aridity:

1

2

3

4

5

(info)

Eutrophication:

1

2

3

4

5

(info)

Poleotolerance:

0

1

2

3

(info)

Altitudinal distribution:

1

2

3

4

5

6

(info)

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