Old Man's Beard

Description:

On January 19, 2012 my science class went outside to find different kinds of lichen. On this day that we went outside, it was very cold. It wasn’t just cold it was also very windy outside. It was 0º C at the time. The wind speed was 20 miles per hour. We were looking for lichen out in the woods. There was a lot of snow and ice outside in the woods. My group found at least 3 different lichens in the area. In the paragraphs that follow I will explain the lichens that we found and what I believe the different lichens are. For the first lichen, my group found it on a piece of bark on a stump. The lichen was a green color and that piece of the lichen was about 3-4 centimeters long. In other spots around the woods there were longer versions of this same exact lichen, but we did not have the chance to snap a photo of the long green lichen growing. After my research on this certain lichen growing on the tree stump, I have come to a conclusion that I think this is Old Man’s Beard lichen. Firstly, I think this is Old Man’s Beard because of the color of my lichen. My lichen is a light greenish color and on websites and pictures of Old Man’s Beard it can be in that same greenish color. Secondly, I think this is Old Man’s Beard lichen because of the different measurements. Old Man’s Beard grows in a variety of different lengths from short (like ours) to very long. Also Old Man’s Beard grows or hangs from trees and that is one more reason why this lichen may be this genus. Lastly, there is a possibility that this is Usnea ( the scientific name) because it grows all over the world so I know that it can grow where I live.

Notes:

Scientific Classification: Kingdom: Fungi Division: Ascomycota Class: Lecanoromycetes Order: Lecanorales Family: Parmeliaceae Genus: Usnea http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usnea http://www.perspective.com/nature/fungi/... http://www.ents-bbs.org/viewtopic.php?f=...