Thamnolia vermicularis

Thamnolia vermicularis, the whiteworm lichen, is the traditional name applied to a widespread, morphologically uniform group of fruticose lichens in the family Icmadophilaceae. The species forms loose mats or scattered tufts of slender, worm-like, chalky-white branches that typically reach up to 5 cm long, growing on tundra terrain across arctic and alpine habitats. It was first described in 1781 by the Swedish botanist Olof Swartz from the alpine regions of Lapland, and the modern scientific name was formalized by Ludwig Schaerer in 1850. Material traditionally identified as T. vermicularis occurs as two chemotypes distinguished by their chemical composition and ultraviolet fluorescence: one fluoresces yellow under UV light due to squamatic and baeomycesic acids, whereas the other produces thamnolic acid and does not fluoresce. Although these chemotypes were historically treated as separate species or subspecies, they are now generally interpreted as chemical variants, and recent DNA-......read more on Wikipedia.