Usnea rubicunda, commonly known as the red beard lichen, is a type of arboreal lichen native to temperate regions in North, Central and South America, as well as Europe, Eastern Asia, and North Africa. This fruticose species forms hair-like hanging clusters that are orange to red in color. It is at risk of extirpation in Canada.Goward, T, IM Brodo, SR Clayden. 1998. Rare lichens of Canada: A review and provisional listing. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. 74 pp.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Compounds documented for Usnea rubicunda across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
Compound class profile3 classes
Usnic acid and derivatives1
Depsidones1
Depsides1
Documented compounds3 total
Compound
Class
Amount
Source
Evernic Acid
present
LOTUS
Stictic Acid
present
LOTUS
Usnic Acid
present
LOTUS
05DNA & barcoding26 specimens
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 Usnea rubicunda has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens26
Marker genes2
GenBank sequences10
eDNA detections26
Countries6
The DNA barcodea real sequence read deposited for this species
★ 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.
★ITS10★ITS1
fungal barcode
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type5 202 records
Wild obs. + sensor3 132
Museum / vouchered2 017
Other53
Origin
Native9
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO11 472 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy71% within 1 km
≤100 m 1 029≤1 km 780≤10 km 654>10 km 78
2 541 georeferenced · 591 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor3 132
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.
Coordinate accuracy36% within 1 km
≤100 m 56≤1 km 194≤10 km 411>10 km 34
695 georeferenced · 1 322 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence2 017
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions59 of 103 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Brisbane, AU
211
Auckland, NZ
164
ASUlocation not on record
89
Berlin, DE
81
LDlocation not on record
78
US
60
Chicago, US
59
Olocation not on record
59
St. Paul, US
59
Madison, US
58
Canberra, AU
56
FLASlocation not on record
47
Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung: Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseumlocation not on record
45
ILLSlocation not on record
44
Chapel Hill, US
43
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
40
Museo Entomologico de Leonlocation not on record
37
Madrid, ES
37
Durham, US
36
València, ES
30
MeiseBGlocation not on record
29
Christchurch, NZ
28
Wellington, NZ
26
Pretoria, ZA
25
Philadelphia, US
24
South Kensington, GB
22
MAlocation not on record
22
DOI/NPS, Colonial National Historical Parklocation not on record
21
Toronto, CA
21
M-Lichenslocation not on record
19
National Biodiversity Institute, Costa Ricalocation not on record
19
Santa Barbara, US
18
Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record
17
UFMSlocation not on record
16
Bronx, US
15
Hobart, AU
14
PUC-RSlocation not on record
13
IPA/SPlocation not on record
12
Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UNAL)location not on record
12
Boise, US
11
AUAlocation not on record
10
University of Gdansklocation not on record
10
Bando, JP
10
Mount Annan, AU
9
Armidale, AU
9
Kensington, AU
9
Oregon State Universitylocation not on record
9
TSBlocation not on record
8
New Haven, US
8
BDBClocation not on record
8
Sugadaira Research Station, Mountain Science Center, University of Tsukubalocation not on record
7
WTUlocation not on record
7
Uppsala, SE
7
CLUlocation not on record
7
Barcelona, ES
6
San Luis Obispo, US
6
PHlocation not on record
5
Stockholm, SE
5
San Sebastián, ES
5
US
5
McWane Science Centerlocation not on record
5
Lake Charles, US
5
DOI/NPS, Little Rock Central High School National Historic Sitelocation not on record
5
Fort Worth, US
5
Arcata, US
5
Bergen, NO
5
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburghlocation not on record
5
BISHlocation not on record
4
Vancouver, CA
4
New Brunswick, US
4
Museo Achille Folettolocation not on record
4
Wuzhou, CN
3
EL PASO, US
3
Kathmandu, NP
3
Trondheim, NO
3
Clarksville, US
3
Weber State Universitylocation not on record
3
Catholic University of Pekinglocation not on record
2
Edinburgh, GB
2
Bloomington, US
2
CJBGlocation not on record
2
Zapopan, MX
2
John T. Waterhouse Herbariumlocation not on record
2
Champaign, US
2
Minia, EG
2
AASlocation not on record
2
Fort Hayslocation not on record
2
IAPlocation not on record
2
UnBlocation not on record
2
Entomological Society of Latvialocation not on record
1
Karlsruhe, DE
1
BClocation not on record
1
Kew, GB
1
Columbia, US
1
Tilburg, NL
1
Vitoria, ES
1
Herb. Ramboldlocation not on record
1
Portland, US
1
Göteborg, SE
1
Mexico City, MX
1
Clemson, US
1
Mlocation not on record
1
Lincoln, US
1
103 institutions · 1 974 of 2 017 vouchered records shown · 37 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA26 detections
Where the DNA of Usnea rubicunda 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
Detections DNA found26
Studies independent surveys1
Countries5
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 26 detections have coordinates
Open the map5 countries0
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median12.6 °C 7.60–25.7
Seasonal swing summer↔winter8.80 °C
Max temp (day)17.0 °C 9.60–29.1
Min temp (night)9.20 °C 5.80–22.4
Precipitation144 mm/mo 90.3–255
Air humidity68.3 % 64.5–69.1
Moisture balance17.9 mm/mo 8.10–182
Vapour deficit450 Pa 412–1,043
Wind speed2.90 m/s 0.8–5.50
Cloud cover53.2 % 44.6–62.8
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 11 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
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.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation2 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility5 202 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI26 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics26 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
Catalogue of LifeCOLtaxonomy↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗