Field Key to Common Branched Fruticose Lichens

1a Thallus abundantly branched, forming tangled colonies on soil……………………………………….. 2

1b Thallus with one point of attachment, erect and bushlike…………………………………………………. 5

2a Surface of branches dull and fibrous, lacking a cortex…………………………………………………….. 3

2b Surface of branches shiny, corticate……………. 4

3a Thallus ashy white……….. Cladonia rangiferina

3b Thallus yellow-green………. Cladonia subtenuis

4a Brownish; squamules present on some branches (look at undersides of clumps)……………………………………….. Cladonia furcata

4b Yellow-green (usnic acid present); squamules completely lacking…………… Cladonia uncialis

5a Branches round in cross-section, with a solid central strand………………………………………….. 6

5b Branches flattened or angular, with a uniform interior…………………………………………………… 7

6a Trunk and branches sorediate-isidiate with numerous short side branches (papillae); apothecia lacking even in older specimens; inner portion of medulla pink to red……. Usnea mutabilis

6b Trunk and branches papillate but lacking soredia and isidia; apothecia present on older specimens…………………………… Usnea strigosa

7a Thallus flabby, the interior filled with webby hyphae………………………. Evernia mesomorpha

7b Thallus rigid……………………………………………. 8

8a Thallus without soredia or isidia, warty; bark substrate…………………….. Ramalina americana

8b Thallus with coarse, almost idisioid soredia; rock substrate……………… Ramalina intermedia