Old Man's Beard

Description:

Kingdom: Fungi Division: Ascomycota Class: Lecanoromycetes Order: Lecanorales Family: Parmeliaceae Genus: Usnea

Notes:

Usnea subfloridana (Old Man’s Beard) is a type of lichen that grows nearly all over the continental U.S. We believe that we found it in Waterboro, Maine. There are many tufts of it around so the thallus would be fruticose. We are searching for different lichen to identify for our science class. We have also identified plants and mushrooms. When we went outside it was 3ºC and the snow was about 15 cm deep. The wind was 28.97kph with gusts up to 41.84kph. It was on January 18 2012.