Home/Species/ Witch's-hair Lichen

Alectoria fallacina

Mot.

Witch's-hair Lichen

G2Imperiled Found in 1 roadless area NatureServe Explorer →

G2ImperiledGlobal Rank

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.125838

Element CodeNLTEST7830

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryFungus

Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

KingdomFungi

PhylumAscomycota

ClassLecanoromycetes

OrderLecanorales

FamilyAlectoriaceae

GenusAlectoria

Other Common Names

Alectoire fausse (FR) Appalachian Witch's Hair Lichen (EN) witch's hair lichen (EN)

Concept Reference

Esslinger, T.L. and R.S. Egan. 1995. A sixth checklist of the lichen-forming, lichenicolous, and allied fungi of the continental United States and Canada. The Bryologist 98(4): 467-549.

Taxonomic Comments

Good species, closely related to more widely spread Alectoria sarmentosa. Monographed in 1977 by I.M. Brodo and D.L. Hawksworth. Opera Botanica 42(6).

Conservation Status

Review Date1999-01-15

Change Date1992-07-07

Edition Date1999-01-15

Edition AuthorsGRIES, D.

Rank Reasons

Alectoria fallacina is endemic to the Appalachians, where it is not a common species. The species is known to occur in Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and north to New Hampshire and New Brunswick. The lichen grows on conifer trees in the spruce-fir forests and rarely fire cherry communities, on mountain trails.

Range Extent Comments

Endemic to the Appalachians, known from North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia (Dey 1978). Also West Virginia, New Hampshire, and New Brunswick (Brodo and Hawksworth 1977).

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Grows on conifer trees, especially Abies, rarely on Betula, in the spruce-fir forests and rarely fire cherry communities. Not known at lower elevations in the southern Appalachians except on Abies or Picea (Dey 1978).

Other Nations (2)

United StatesNNR

Province	Rank	Native
West Virginia	S1	Yes
Virginia	SH	Yes
Tennessee	SNR	Yes
North Carolina	S1	Yes
New Hampshire	SNR	Yes

CanadaNU

Province	Rank	Native
Island of Newfoundland	SU	Yes
New Brunswick	SU	Yes

Plant Characteristics

Economic Value (Genus)No

Roadless Areas (1)

North Carolina (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Bearwallow	Pisgah National Forest	4,113

References (5)

Brodo, I.M., and D.L. Hawksworth. 1977. Alectoria and allied genera in North America. Opera Botanica 42:1-164.
Dey, J.P. 1978. Fruticose and foliose lichens of the high-mountain areas of the Southern Appalachians. The Bryologist 81(1): 1-93.
Esslinger, T. L. 2018. A cumulative checklist for the lichen-forming, lichenicolous and allied fungi of the continental United States and Canada, Version 22. Opuscula Philolichenum 17:6-268. [http://sweetgum.nybg.org/philolichenum/]
Esslinger, T.L. and R.S. Egan. 1995. A sixth checklist of the lichen-forming, lichenicolous, and allied fungi of the continental United States and Canada. The Bryologist 98(4): 467-549.
Hale, M.E. 1979. How to know the lichens. Second edition. The Pictured Key Nature Series, Wm. C. Brown Co. Publishers, Dubuque, Iowa.