Flavocetraria cucullata

Common name	Curled Snow Lichen
Code	FLAVCUC
Field Characters	Leafy, yellow chlorolichens that resembles fruticose lichens. Thalli of erect, narrow, inrolled lobes with ruffled margins, sparsely branching, to 8 cm tall. Upper and lower cortices pale yellow, with marginal pycnidia. Pseudocyphellae punctiform on the lower cortex. Apothecia rare, terminal, with brown discs. Lacking soredia or isidia. Lobes have a purplish base.
Similar species & genera	Foveolaria nivalis: lobes wrinkled/foveolate, base of lobes orange. Similarly shaped, co-occurring species are different colors. Cetraria species are brown.
Ecology	Terricolous, on soil, moss or over rock, often mixed with other lichens. Most commonly detected in the mountains, rare to occasional in the foothills and boreal regions.
Chemistry	Cortices C–, K–, KC+ yellow, PD– (usnic acid, ± isousnic acid), medulla C–, K–, KC–, PD–, UV- (±gyrophoric acid, ± aliphatic acids such as protolichesterinic acid, lichesterinic acid, and alloprotolichesterinic acid detectable by TLC), with purple anthraquinones in the senescing, lower thallus.
Molecular support	Strong for both genus and species (Chesnokov et al. 2023).
Links	ABMI Biodiversity Browser Consortium of Lichen Herbaria Ways of Enlichenment Photo Gallery
Gallery