Allocetraria madreporiformis

Allocetraria madreporiformis, commonly known as V-fingers, is a species of fruticose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It forms a yellow-brown thallus of branching, somewhat inflated lobes that grow directly on the ground in arctic and high-mountain (alpine) habitats across the Northern Hemisphere. The species favours calcareous (lime-rich) soils in exposed, wind-swept sites such as ridges and arctic steppes, where wind erosion keeps mineral soil surfaces open. First described in 1810 by Erik Acharius and placed in Allocetraria in 1996, it contains usnic acid and protolichesterinic acid. Some populations are highly localised, including records from inner fjord districts of Svalbard and from glacier forefields (newly exposed ground in front of retreating glaciers) in the Austrian Alps; these occurrences have been discussed as possible results of long-distance dispersal from steppe-like areas (open, dry grass-dominated landscapes) in the Sino-Himalayan region, where Allocetraria has its......read more on Wikipedia.