Crossword clues for usnea
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Usnea \Us"ne*a\, n. [NL., from Ar. usnah moss.] (Bot.) A genus of lichens, most of the species of which have long, gray, pendulous, and finely branched fronds. Usnea barbata is the common bearded lichen which grows on branches of trees in northern forests.
Usnic \Us"nic\, a. (Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, a complex acid obtained, as a yellow crystalline substance, from certain genera of lichens ( Usnea, Parmelia, etc.).
Wiktionary
n. A lichen of the genus ''Usnea''.
Wikipedia
Usnea is a genus of mostly pale grayish-green fruticose lichens that grow like leafless mini- shrubs or tassels anchored on bark or twigs. The genus is in the family Parmeliaceae. It grows all over the world.
Members of the genus are commonly called old man's beard, or beard lichen. It resembles Evernia, which is also called tree moss.
Like other lichens it is a symbiosis of a fungus and an alga. In Usnea, the fungus belongs to the division Ascomycota, while the alga is a member of the division Chlorophyta.
Members of the genus are similar to those of the genus Alectoria. A distinguishing test is that the branches of Usnea are somewhat elastic, but the branches of Alectoeria snap cleanly off.
Usage examples of "usnea".
Some lichens of the species usnea melanoxantha lay upon the black rocks.
All day the sun has shone on the surface of some savage swamp, where the single spruce stands hung with usnea lichens, and small hawks circulate above, and the chickadee lisps amid the evergreens, and the partridge and rabbit skulk beneath.