Usnea esperantiana P. Clerc

    Thallus tufted more or less erect, 3-5 cm tall, made of numerous branches, not blackened at the base, abundantly ramified, twisted, tendrilled, intertwined, greyish, pale greyish, overall surface covered with abundant soralia, rounded, plane or slightly concave, whitish, in combination with warts and whitish fibrils. Fertile specimen unknown. Photobiont: trebouxioid. Medulla: C-, K+ yellow > red, KC-, Pd+ red-orange. On well-lit twigs and branches of deciduous trees but also on rocks notably in Heads and Capes. In our prospection area, this species seems to prefer areas near the seashore and oceanic woodlands and forests. N.B. Easily identified by its aspect of tangled string ball, (and the presence of many delicate, paler, twisted, abraded branch endings).