Beard lichen

Beard lichens belong to the genus Usnea, a bushy and branched type of lichen growing long stems and disc-shaped holdfasts. In all Usnea species, the main pendant cords resemble elastic bands, each surrounded by a hard fungal cortex.

These plant-like organisms, tangled masses of threads, are widely distributed on earth from near the poles to the tropics. There are between 15000 and 20000 lichen species on earth, each species determined by both the alga and the fungus partner in the “marriage”. About 7 percent of the earth’s surface is covered by lichen (www.britannica.com; www.woodlandtrust.org.uk; www.fs.fed.us; Wikipedia).