Northern Moon Shrub
(Dendriscocaulon intricatulum )
Lobariaceae

Photo by Sylvia and Stephen Sharnoff

Description: A small fruticose lichen, (usually 3-5 mm, occasionally up to 1 cm tall), brown, erect, shrubby tufts resembling a tangled brown steel wool pad or a small minute oak tree.  Brownish hairs cover the paler, tannish, basal stalk.

Distribution: In California, it is found in the Northwestern California Floristic Province.

Habitat: On bark of pine, maple and oak trees, in areas of high humidity associated with coastal and interior fog.

Flowering Period: This species is not known to produce sexual or asexual reproductive structures.

Similar Plants: Leptogium teretiusculum, Polychidium contortum, Sticta oroborealis.

Status: BLM Sensitive