Closer to the Wind

Usnea quasirigida

I've got sunshine . . . on a cloudy day. When it's cold outside, I've got Usnea quasirigid-day! OK it doesn't exactly work, but close enough for me! This adorable fruticose lichen has a pendant to bushy, dark- to bright-green thallus of thin branches covered in lateral fibrils. The ends of the branches are capped with rounded apothecia surrounded in a radiating margin of fibrils. U. quasirigida grows on coniferous trees in submontane regions, and while it has largely been accepted as a distinct species in NW North America, it is synonymized with U. intermedia in Europe, which obscures its range and habitat preferences somewhat. It's never easy with these guys, I'll tell ya. That doesn't change the fact that he is a sunshiney little pal and I enjoy seeing him.

images: source

looking glass falls, north carolina, april 2016

Gilbert Gorski（American）