Lichens form an important floral community, playing an important role in ecological succession. The Western Ghats harbour a number of plant resources including lichens, mosses and other lower plants. Among the lichen species, those belonging to Usnea have been used medicinally for ages. The present study is focusing on the chemical substances present in the Usneoid lichens from the Western Ghats. The study area mainly contains compositions of vegetations like evergreen, semi-evergreen, moist deciduous, dry deciduous and scrub forests. We have collected 38 species of Usnea lichens form Western Ghats. The collected Usnea lichens were found to be spread between 500- 3000m of altitude. All the collected lichens are subjected to colour test, Thin Layer Crystallography and microcrystallography. We have identified 13 different secondary metabolites from collected 37 species of lichens. Among them Usnic acid is common to all the species. Apart from that strictic acid and salazinic acid is present in majority of the species. Usnea, Crystallography, Forest, Salazinic