Day 169: An unidentified Usnea provided my second big thrill during the lichenology field trip. I simply adore lichens with "eyelashes" on their apothecia, and this was only the second one I've ever found. My previous discovery belonged to a different genus in which the fringed apothecia are common. In Usneas, it's something which is not too often seen around here. The largest "eye" (shown here) was roughly 5 mm in diameter. Two smaller ones were on a lateral branch of the same specimen. Upon closer examination, I believe two species of Usnea were present on this twig, although Usneas can be highly variable within a single species.
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