Evernia prunastri

Taxonomic placement and country records

Hierarchy: Phylum Ascomycota › Class Lecanoromycetes › Order Lecanorales › Family Parmeliaceae › Genus Evernia › Evernia prunastri (species)

This species belongs under Evernia; the genus belongs under Parmeliaceae. Country entries below are independent, alphabetized records. A database query is evidence of records to review, not proof of native status.

Afghanistan

Status: Unconfirmed. I did not locate a verified country checklist record in the sources reviewed. The GBIF country filter is provided for record review.

GBIF occurrence records for Afghanistan

Armenia

Status: Documented in the national lichen catalogue, which reports localities within present-day Armenia.

Harutyunyan, Wiesmair & Mayrhofer (2011), Catalogue of the lichenized fungi in Armenia · GBIF occurrence records for Armenia

Azerbaijan

Status: Reported in an Azerbaijan lichen-biota proceedings source. Treat as a published report pending confirmation from a fully checked specimen/locality record.

Azerbaijan lichen-biota conference proceedings · GBIF occurrence records for Azerbaijan

China

Status: Published as a previously documented distribution in the 2024 Pakistan study, which cites an earlier Chinese source (Ai et al. 2022). This is not a substitute for checking that Chinese treatment and its specimens.

Ahmad et al. (2024), A systematic study of some lichenized fungi from Pakistan using nrITS marker · GBIF occurrence records for China

Iran

Status: Documented in published national checklists and regional lichen literature.

A preliminary lichen checklist for Iran (2004) · Seaward, Sipman & Sohrabi (2008), revised checklist for Iran · GBIF occurrence records for Iran

Pakistan

Status: Confirmed from Pakistani material; the 2024 study provides the first molecular confirmation from Pakistan and reports sampled localities.

Ahmad et al. (2024), taxonomic and nrITS study · GBIF occurrence records for Pakistan

Turkey

Status: Documented in published Turkish lichen checklists and regional studies.

Additions to the checklist of lichens of Turkey · GBIF occurrence records for Turkey

World occurrence map

Open the GBIF world occurrence map for Evernia prunastri. Map points are database records and should be checked against specimen identifications and country-level floras before treating them as confirmed distribution.

Taxonomy and identification

Ascomycota › Lecanoromycetes › Lecanorales › Parmeliaceae › Evernia › Evernia prunastri

Accepted name: Evernia prunastri (L.) Ach. (1810)
Common name: oakmoss / oak-moss lichen
Classification: Kingdom Fungi · Phylum Ascomycota · Class Lecanoromycetes · Order Lecanorales · Family Parmeliaceae · Genus Evernia · Species E. prunastri
Basionym: Lichen prunastri L. (1753).

Identification and morphology

A common, bushy lichen with soft, flexible, flattened strap-like branches, often twisted, palmately branched and hanging from the substrate. Thalli are usually about 2–6 cm long (occasionally to 10 cm); lobes are commonly 2–6 mm wide and about 1 mm thick. The upper surface is green-grey to pale green-yellow, often with an incomplete network of ridges and hollows. The lower surface is usually white, sometimes with green photobiont near the tips. Marginal or surface soredia become conspicuous and may merge as the thallus ages. Apothecia are uncommon; reported ascospores are 7–11 × 4–6 μm.

Possible lookalikes include Ramalina farinacea and Pseudevernia furfuracea. Compare the soft, flattened branches and usually pale lower surface with the tougher, rope-like branches of R. farinacea; P. furfuracea typically has a greyer upper surface, isidia, and a lower surface that darkens. Shaded forms may be paler and more elongated. Identification should use the full specimen and appropriate microscopy or chemistry where needed.

References for this section

1. British Lichen Society. Evernia prunastri species account. Identification, habitat, British and Irish distribution, chemistry and regional status.

2. Consortium of Lichen Herbaria. Evernia prunastri. Morphology, spot tests, metabolites, ecology and world distribution summary.

3. French National Inventory of Natural Heritage (INPN / MNHN). Evernia prunastri account. French range and explicit warning about erroneous Southern Hemisphere reports.

4. Association Française de Lichénologie. Illustrated French species account.

Habitat, chemotaxonomy and reproduction

Habitat and ecology

Usually grows on neutral to acidic bark of trunks, branches and twigs, especially broad-leaved trees such as oak, and shrubs; it can also occur on conifers. It is often found in humid but sunny, exposed or windswept sites, including parkland trees, hedgerows, fences and heathland. Regional accounts also report it on dune sand, nutrient-enriched siliceous rock, gravestones, stabilized shingle, turf and brick. It has a broad ecological amplitude but is scarce in dry or strongly disturbed habitats in some regional accounts. The green photobiont is reported as Trebouxia.

Chemotaxonomy

The cortex commonly contains usnic acid, atranorin and chloroatranorin; usnic acid may be reduced or absent in some forms. Evernic acid is reported from the medulla. Staples et al. compared material collected in California, Maine and Russia: evernic acid was the most abundant of the four specialized metabolites profiled in all three specimens. Composition and concentration can vary among specimens and localities.

Reported spot tests: cortex K− (rarely K+ yellow), C−, KC+ yellow (rarely KC−), P−, UV−. Medulla reactions are mostly negative in the British Lichen Society account; the Consortium of Lichen Herbaria records occasional K+ yellow or pale-blue UV reactions. Italian and French sources also describe somewhat different reactions. Treat these as reported ranges, not an invariant diagnosis. Chemistry supports comparison but does not replace morphology or molecular evidence.

Reproduction

Vegetative dispersal is commonly by soredia. Apothecia and pycnidia are rare in the cited regional accounts.

References for this section

1. British Lichen Society. Evernia prunastri species account. Identification, habitat, British and Irish distribution, chemistry and regional status.

2. Consortium of Lichen Herbaria. Evernia prunastri. Morphology, spot tests, metabolites, ecology and world distribution summary.

3. ITALIC, University of Trieste. Evernia prunastri taxon page. Italian records and lichen data.

4. ISPRA. Guidelines on the use of lichens as bioaccumulators. Italian species account and ecology.

5. Staples, R. et al. (2020). “Structure and Chemical Analysis of Major Specialized Metabolites Produced by the Lichen Evernia prunastri.” Chemistry & Biodiversity 17(1): e1900465. doi:10.1002/cbdv.201900465.

Distribution and regional records

Distribution and map

Major floras describe an incompletely circumpolar range in the temperate-to-boreal Northern Hemisphere, including western North America, Europe, northern Africa and Japan. It is widespread in Britain and Ireland and is recorded widely in France and Italy. The French national inventory specifically cautions that some Southern Hemisphere reports (including Patagonia and Ascension Island) are erroneous. A regional biodiversity portal may nevertheless display records outside the core range; records should be checked individually and do not by themselves establish native status.

Regional records and sources

• France: INPN / French National Museum of Natural History account and French Lichenology Association (AFL) illustrated account.

• Italy: ITALIC / University of Trieste, Dolichens species and occurrence portal and ISPRA lichen biomonitoring guide.

• Australia: Atlas of Living Australia taxon and occurrence map. Its mapped records need specimen-level verification against the range literature; a portal listing is not proof of native distribution.

• China: GBIF records filtered to China. This is a database query, not an independent Chinese flora treatment; interpret only records whose locality and identification can be checked.

• Worldwide: GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, NatureServe Explorer, British Lichen Society species account, and the Consortium of Lichen Herbaria.

References for this section

1. British Lichen Society. Evernia prunastri species account. Identification, habitat, British and Irish distribution, chemistry and regional status.

2. Consortium of Lichen Herbaria. Evernia prunastri. Morphology, spot tests, metabolites, ecology and world distribution summary.

3. French National Inventory of Natural Heritage (INPN / MNHN). Evernia prunastri account. French range and explicit warning about erroneous Southern Hemisphere reports.

4. Association Française de Lichénologie. Illustrated French species account.

5. ITALIC, University of Trieste. Evernia prunastri taxon page. Italian records and lichen data.

6. ISPRA. Guidelines on the use of lichens as bioaccumulators. Italian species account and ecology.

7. Atlas of Living Australia. Evernia prunastri taxon page and occurrence map. Database records require contextual verification.

8. GBIF. Taxonomy; China occurrence filter; Australia occurrence filter. Records are not equivalent to confirmed native range.

Applied use, conservation and source scope

Applied note and conservation

Evernia prunastri is known as “oakmoss” in perfumery. The British Lichen Society lists it as Least Concern (LC) in Britain and Ireland; NatureServe reports a global G5 rank but explicitly says that global status needs review. These are assessment-specific, not interchangeable. British and Italian sources note sensitivity to ammonia or eutrophication; some UK populations recovered as sulphur dioxide pollution declined.

Editorial scope: This profile synthesizes sources in English, French and Italian. RLL (Recent Literature on Lichens) is included as a searchable bibliography for locating additional primary identification literature. A dedicated authoritative Chinese flora record was not verified in this source pass; the China link is a live occurrence-data filter for review. Range summaries, regional checklists and observation portals can disagree.

References for this section

1. British Lichen Society. Evernia prunastri species account. Identification, habitat, British and Irish distribution, chemistry and regional status.

2. GBIF. Taxonomy; China occurrence filter; Australia occurrence filter. Records are not equivalent to confirmed native range.

3. Natural History Museum, University of Oslo. Recent Literature on Lichens (RLL), searchable bibliography for finding primary identification and taxonomic literature; Evernia prunastri literature search. RLL is a literature index, not a species treatment.