Hello, everyone!

During the most recent NW Lichenologist Annual Meeting, my classmates: Elise, Kaitlyn, Ruby, Deniz and I were contemplating the idea of starting a movement or some type of petition to have the Washington State government create an official state lichen.

As a group, we had come up with several ideas, but we also wanted to see if the Northwest Lichenologist group would like to be involved as well. The lichens we were contemplating were: 

• Usnea longissima

• Lobaria pulmonaria

• Pseudocyphellaria rainierensis

We are excited to hear what your thoughts are on this! 

Pseudocyphellaria rainierensis!

If we try for Letharia columbiana, then our NWL T shirt would already be the state lichen for WA! Maybe more sales!

Letharia columbiana is widespread and screams east side to me, not necessarily WA.

The choice has nothing to do with the NWL shirt design - we won't be changing that most likely.

I thought Pseudocyphellaria rainierensis because it is named after Mt. Rainier and is rare and also photogenic.

I think there's a sweet spot we should consider for rarity. Lichens are already not on a lot of people's radars, so having a species that an attentive local hiker might know, or one that people can find easily once learned, would be nice. Usnea longissima, Lobaria pulmonaria, and Letharia columbiana definitely make the cut, but Pseudocyphellaria rainierensis might be too rare.

A good example is Cali's state lichen, Ramalina menziesii; it's very beautiful, large and easy to identify, is a west coast endemic, but is easy to find in its habitat, and its habitat is easy to get to for most Californians.

In my humble opinion, I think Usnea longissima is the best option. It prefers mid elevations, so you see it a lot at trailheads, but not the lowlands, so it feels "special". Lots of people drive highway 20 in the fall to see larches, and on that drive they'd see tons on the 50 miles between Sedro-Woolley and the mountains, and there are many other areas both on the peninsula and west cascades where you see lots. Despite its population collapsing in other parts of the world, it's easy to find here, so it can be used both as a lesson for conservation and a point of pride for the state. On the other hand, it's not a true endemic (this is definitely a strong point for L. columbiana and P. rainierensis).

That said, I'd be happy to have any state lichen at all! I'd suggest Lobaria oregana, but I think it'd be criminal for Oregon to not take that one. :-)