''Cladonia subulata'' is a species of

fruticose A fruticose lichen is a form of lichen fungi that is characterized by a coral-like shrubby or bushy growth structure. It is formed from a symbiotic relationship of a photobiont such as green algae or less commonly cyanobacteria and one, two or m ...

, cup lichen in the family

Cladoniaceae The Cladoniaceae are a family of lichenized fungi in the order Lecanorales. It is one of the largest families of lichen-forming fungi, with about 560 species distributed amongst 17 genera. The reindeer moss and cup lichens (''Cladonia'') belong ...

. It was first described as a new species by Swedish taxonomist

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...

in 1753. It was transferred to the genus ''

Cladonia ''Cladonia'' is a genus of moss-like lichens in the family Cladoniaceae. They are the primary food source for reindeer/caribou. ''Cladonia'' species are of economic importance to reindeer-herders, such as the Sami in Scandinavia or the Nenets ...

'' by

Friedrich Heinrich Wiggers Friedrich Heinrich Wiggers (15 March 1746 – 3 March 1811) was a German botanist who wrote a flora of Holstein in 1780. A number of variants of his name exist, including "Fridrich Hindrich" and the Latinisation "Fredericus Henricus" and the alte ...

in 1780. In North America, the lichen is colloquially known as the antlered powderhorn or antlered cup lichen.

References

subulata Lichen species Lichens of North America Lichens described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Lecanorales-stub