A fruticose lichen with a darker, grey-green thallus that tends to look bushy. It has a few main branches and is soft and placid when wet and rough when dry. The base is not blackened. The main branches are angular and irregular in section, ridged and very pitted, and covered in long, thin isidia, but no soredia.
Medulla: C-, K-
Mainly restricted to central and eastern Scotland, Usnea hirta prefers acidic substrata such as conifers and acid-barked deciduous trees like birch and oak, along with wooden fences. BLS distribution map
Usnea hirta is distinguished from Usnea subfloridana on basis of its lack of a blackened holdfast, its main branches being angular and irregular in section, and the presence of long, thin isidia.
scottishlichens.co.uk 