Usnea flammea
Thallus green to yellow-grey, in tufts up to 8 cm long which can be erect or hanging. There are numerous white rings around the branches especially in the short clear length near the base which is not blackened. Thin lateral branches tend to grow from one side of the main branches. Areas of the surface may be covered with short finger-like isidia and small warty soralia.
Chemistry: Medulla K+ yellow turning red, Pd+ orange and UV+ pale blue.
Similar species: The many pale rings and non- blackened (though may be darker than the rest of the thallus) holdfast are distinctive.
See also Fungi of Great Britain and Ireland
Exposed rocks especially near the coast and on mossy trees and heather but also frequent on trees, where it is easily over looked amoung usually abundant Usnea cornuta s. lat.
Widespread and locally frequent in the south and west of Britain and Ireland.
Text by David Brabban & Neil A Sanderson