Andy,

If I had known to ask you it would have saved me a ton of research!!  I give
the etymology for each species name.  Below is what I have for V usnea.
Nice to have it verified.

Tom

ETYMOLOGY:  The name usnea is from the Arabic oshnah for moss.  It is also
the name for any of several gray lichens of the genus Usnea (also called old
man's beard) found in pine forests in the United States and used in herbal
remedies for antibacterial purposes.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Conchologists of America List [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
> Behalf Of Andy Rindsberg
> Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2004 2:02 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Freshwater barnacle
>
>
> Thanks, Tom.
>
> Incidentally, I got curious about the strange name "usnea" and
> looked it up.
> Usnea is a genus of beard-lichens; the word is Botanical Latin,
> from Arabic
> oshnah, "moss". It's not a name that I would have chosen for Vitta usnea,
> but maybe the color pattern reminded Roeding of moss or moss-like lichen.
> Spanish "moss", the angiosperm that hangs from trees in regions
> adjacent to
> the Gulf of Mexico, is Dendropogon usneoides.
>
> Andrew K. Rindsberg
> Geological Survey of Alabama
>
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