Dolichousnea

Dolichousnea is a genus of fruticose lichens in the family Parmeliaceae. It has three species. The widely distributed type species, Dolichousnea longissima, is found in boreal regions of Asia, Europe, and North America.

==Taxonomy== Dolichousnea was originally circumscribed as a subgenus of the large genus Usnea, by Japanese lichenologist Yoshihito Ohmura in 2001. He considered that it was possible to treat the three taxa as a genus, but thought it more suitable to treat Dolichousnea at the rank of subgenus, because the taxa have the synapomorphies of the genus Usnea: a fruticose thallus, a central cartilaginous axis throughout the thallus, and the presence of usnic acid in the cortex. In 2004, Kristina Articus proposed to raise the subgenus to generic rank, a decision that was accepted in later analyses.