Shrubby Cup Lichen

This lichen is primarily white-gray, pale yellow, or bright green, with darker orange tips where ascocarps are formed.   They typically grow in areas of high climatic stress, where many vascular plants cannot tolerate the conditions and survive.  It can be found growing on white or black spruce, but can be found on the ground in bogs or fens, as well as growing on sunny rocks.  They are shade intolerant, and typically cannot grow in areas with 70% canopy cover or more, needing direct sunlight.

This is one of the vital food source of reindeer, especially during the calving season.  This lichen can also be heavily damaged by large numbers of reindeer due to overgrazing and trampling. Some small mammals such as voles and mice feed on these lichens in the winter as well. Despite the low protein levels of these lichens, especially in comparison with other vascular plants, they are the main food source for many animals, and if not protected can cause bottom-up trophic cascades with detrimental effects on reindeer populations.

Grazing and trampling from reindeer can affect the diversity of lichen in an area by causing early and late successional staged species to grow simultaneously.