What Plant Is Called The 'Old Man's Beard'?

The name Old Man's Beard can in fact be used to refer to two separate types of plant, one of which is a lichen while the other is a common climbing plant.

The lichen, generically known as Usnea, is generally found growing from tree branches and resembles grey or green hair. Usnea lichen now includes up to 600 separate species, each of which displays different characteristics. Many of these different species have developed as a result of environmental adaptations as usnea is particularly susceptible to changes in its habitat. This is particularly true of air pollution, exposure to which often means that the lichen grows to no more than a few millimetres.

The second plant known as Old Man's Beard is called clematis vitalba, and is a climbing shrub. It has branched stems and fluffy, green-white flowers. Clematis vitalba grows particularly quickly, to the extent that it often poses a threat to other plants. As a result of this it has been classified as an 'unwanted organism' in New Zealand, where it cannot be distributed in any way. It is particularly dangerous as it develops a canopy which smothers surrounding plants, depriving them of light.

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