Usnea viktoriana

Usnea viktoriana is a shrubby to somewhat pendulous beard lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It was described in 2018 by Philippe Clerc and Volker Otte from European material that had been placed in U. diplotypus or treated as an alectorialic acid chemotype. It belongs to the U. barbata–dasopoga group and was recognised as a distinct species using a combination of morphology, chemistry and DNA data. Chemically it is characterised by the secondary metabolite alectorialic acid in high concentration in the soralia, although some collections instead contain salazinic acid or show no detectable substances in the medulla. The thallus is pale greenish to yellowish, forming tufts up to about 15 cm long with a short blackened base and branches that spread outwards and sometimes hang slightly. Branches are cylindrical or only weakly swollen, lack deep pits, and bear small papillae. Soralia start as small rounded patches on branch tips and sides but soon merge into larger, irregular, powdery mass......read more on Wikipedia.