Alectoria sarmentosa
(Ach.) Ach. · speciesAt a glance
Sources9 archives
Databases and archives Alectoria sarmentosa's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation5 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility183 860 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI16 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics15 specimens↗
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
Catalogue of LifeCOLtaxonomy↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Alectoria sarmentosa (common witch's-hair lichen) is a long-lived, perennial witch's-hair lichen. It is also sometimes classified as a fungus. It is a light greenish colored and fruticose or bushy bodied. This epiphytic lichen belongs to the family Parmeliaceae and the suborder Lecanorineae, which includes six similar species."Classification of Alectoria Ach. | USDA PLANTS." Plant Database and Classification | USDA PLANTS. United States Department of Agriculture, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2014. A. sarmentosa grows draped or strung over conifer tree limbs and deciduous shrub branches in Northern temperate rainforest. This lichen favors mature and old growth, wet conifer and hardwood forests with clean air.McCune, Bruce, Linda Geiser, Sylvia Duran Sharnoff, Stephen Sharnoff, and Alexander G. Mikulin. Macrolichens of the Pacific Northwest. Corvallis: Oregon State UP, 1997. Print. A. sarmentosa is sensitive to air pollution and used for air quality monitoring.McCune, Bruce, Linda Geiser, Sylvia Duran Sharnoff, Stephen Sharnoff, and Alexander G. Mikulin. Macrolichens of the Pacific Northwest. Corvallis: Oregon State UP, 1997. Print. Areas required by A. sarmentosa are found in northern and southern temperate zones and receive high rainfall."Witch's Hair · University of Puget Sound." University of Puget Sound, Slater Museum of Natural History. University of Puget Sound, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2014. This lichen is commonly found in transitional areas between valley and mountainous forests, but usually avoiding the immediate coast. The common name for A. sarmentosa is witch's hair lichen. This common name is used for most Alectoria species. A similar-looking species commonly confused with A. sarmentosa is Usnea longissima. These lichens are similar in color and growth patterns but A. sarmentosa lacks a central chord that characterizes the genus Usnea.Pojar, Jim, A. MacKinnon, and Paul B. Alaback. Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast: Washington, Oregon, British Columbia & Alaska. Redmond, WA: Lone Pine Pub., 1994. Print."Witch's Hair · University of Puget Sound." University of Puget Sound, Slater Museum of Natural History. University of Puget Sound, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2014.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Habitat & environment1
Compounds documented for Alectoria sarmentosa across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
Compound class profile1 class
Documented compounds1 total
| Compound | Class | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| d-Usnic acid | present | LOTUS |
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Alectoria sarmentosa has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
The complete instruction manual Alectoria sarmentosa carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
Sequencing statusassembly quality — how far to trust these numbers
Assembly level tells you how finished the sequence is — from fragmented contigs, through scaffolds, up to a full chromosome-level assembly. BUSCO % estimates completeness: the share of genes expected to be present that were actually found. These describe the data quality, not the organism.
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
Record type183 860 records
Range
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions53 of 121 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| Olocation not on record | 691 |
| Uppsala, SE | 417 |
| WTUlocation not on record | 349 |
| Vancouver, CA | 290 |
| Madison, US | 172 |
| Trondheim, NO | 153 |
| Bergen, NO | 140 |
| Kuopio, FI | 133 |
| ASUlocation not on record | 109 |
| Metsähallituslocation not on record | 102 |
| Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record | 100 |
| Chicago, US | 98 |
| Helsinki, FI | 94 |
| Uniwersytet Marii Curie-Skłodowskiejlocation not on record | 93 |
| McWane Science Centerlocation not on record | 88 |
| DOI/NPS, Colonial National Historical Parklocation not on record | 81 |
| ILLSlocation not on record | 77 |
| LDlocation not on record | 71 |
| TROMlocation not on record | 69 |
| St. Paul, US | 67 |
| Stockholm, SE | 62 |
| Berlin, DE | 51 |
| Boise, US | 50 |
| 50 | |
| Durham, US | 49 |
| SLU Artdatabankenlocation not on record | 49 |
| Edmonton, CA | 49 |
| US | 48 |
| Université Lavallocation not on record | 40 |
| Philadelphia, US | 37 |
| GZUlocation not on record | 34 |
| Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung: Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseumlocation not on record | 33 |
| Entomological Society of Latvialocation not on record | 29 |
| BioFokuslocation not on record | 25 |
| University of Gdansklocation not on record | 22 |
| Museo Achille Folettolocation not on record | 21 |
| Bozeman, US | 21 |
| PHlocation not on record | 21 |
| Umeå Universitylocation not on record | 20 |
| Polar-Alpine Botanical Garden-Institutelocation not on record | 18 |
| Victoria, CA | 17 |
| Santa Barbara, US | 15 |
| València, ES | 15 |
| BClocation not on record | 15 |
| ULBF-AGRlocation not on record | 14 |
| New Brunswick, US | 14 |
| CASlocation not on record | 13 |
| Turku, FI | 13 |
| CLUlocation not on record | 12 |
| Oulu, FI | 12 |
| Wuzhou, CN | 11 |
| Champaign, US | 11 |
| CJBGlocation not on record | 10 |
| Bureau of Land Management, Medford District Officelocation not on record | 8 |
| Minia, EG | 8 |
| BG-NMNHSlocation not on record | 8 |
| Ann Arbor, US | 8 |
| Clocation not on record | 8 |
| nbflocation not on record | 8 |
| DOI/NPS, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Sitelocation not on record | 7 |
| Albuquerque, US | 7 |
| Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznańlocation not on record | 7 |
| PUC-RSlocation not on record | 6 |
| Clemson, US | 5 |
| University of Oslo, Natural History Museumlocation not on record | 5 |
| Museum of the Rockieslocation not on record | 5 |
| Arcata, US | 5 |
| Chapel Hill, US | 5 |
| TSBlocation not on record | 5 |
| PRClocation not on record | 4 |
| Logan, US | 4 |
| Auckland, NZ | 4 |
| Davis, US | 4 |
| MeiseBGlocation not on record | 4 |
| Toronto, CA | 4 |
| Knoxville, US | 4 |
| Forssa, FI | 4 |
| MAlocation not on record | 3 |
| San Sebastián, ES | 3 |
| Bronx, US | 3 |
| Université de Montréal Biodiversity Centrelocation not on record | 3 |
| BDBClocation not on record | 3 |
| University of Western Ontariolocation not on record | 3 |
| Acadia Universitylocation not on record | 3 |
| New Haven, US | 3 |
| UNITOlocation not on record | 3 |
| University of Manitobalocation not on record | 3 |
| US | 3 |
| Weber State Universitylocation not on record | 3 |
| Oregon State Universitylocation not on record | 3 |
| South Kensington, GB | 2 |
| Mexico City, MX | 2 |
| Museum Ludovicae Ulricae, Zoology Institute of the University of Uppsalalocation not on record | 2 |
| Göteborg, SE | 2 |
| FLASlocation not on record | 2 |
| Klostermuseum Disentislocation not on record | 2 |
| Burlington, US | 2 |
| Oskarshamn, SE | 2 |
| NMBU:MINAlocation not on record | 2 |
| Portland, US | 2 |
| Servico de Microbiologia e Imunologialocation not on record | 2 |
| Museo civico di Storia naturale Giacomo Doria di Genova | Giacomo Doria Natural History Museum in Genoalocation not on record | 1 |
| Fort Hayslocation not on record | 1 |
| IMBIVlocation not on record | 1 |
| Universidade de Lisboa, Museu Bocagelocation not on record | 1 |
| Vitoria, ES | 1 |
| Staatsarchiv Urilocation not on record | 1 |
| Barcelona, ES | 1 |
| Henderson, US | 1 |
| DOI/FWS, Kenai National Wildlife Refugelocation not on record | 1 |
| Laboratorio de Ictiologialocation not on record | 1 |
| Kenai National Wildlife Refugelocation not on record | 1 |
| AADClocation not on record | 1 |
| Institute of the Industrial Ecology Problems of the North of Kola Science Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences.location not on record | 1 |
| University of British Columbia, Herbariumlocation not on record | 1 |
| Swiss Federal Research Institute WSLlocation not on record | 1 |
| Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Researchlocation not on record | 1 |
| Rovaniemi, FI | 1 |
| Catholic University of Pekinglocation not on record | 1 |
| Pocatello, US | 1 |
| Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Researchlocation not on record | 1 |
Where the DNA of Alectoria sarmentosa was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.