Usnea hirta | |
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In Vyšné Ružbachy, Slovakia | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Fungi |
Division: | Ascomycota |
Class: | Lecanoromycetes |
Order: | Lecanorales |
Family: | Parmeliaceae |
Genus: | Usnea |
Species: | U. hirta |
Binomial name | |
Usnea hirta | |
Synonyms [1] | |
List
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Usnea hirta is a species of beard lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It was one of 80 lichen species first formally described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 work Species Plantarum . Friedrich Heinrich Wiggers transferred it to the genus Usnea in 1780. [2] The lichen is sensitive to air pollution, and is often used as a biomonitor of sulphur dioxide. [3] Usnea hirta has an extensive worldwide distribution, and it is morphologically variable, which has led to numerous intraspecific taxa (i.e. subspecies, varieties, and forms) being proposed in its taxonomic history. [4]