Lichens of North America http:www'lichen'comindex'html

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Lichens of North America http//www.lichen.com/in
dex.html

• Traditional and Modern Uses

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Witch's hair" (Alectoria sarmentosa) on a western
hemlock near Juneau, Alaska. In the winter when
other forage is buried under snow, white-tailed
deer in the Northwest eat witch's hair that has
blown down from the treetops during storms. This
lichen was valued as fiber in traditional
cultures in the Northwest. It was used as
bandages, baby diapers, feminine hygiene
supplies, and even as raw material for ponchos
and footwear (Lillooet). It made good artifical
hair for decorating dance masks.
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Bryoria fremontii (sometimes called "tree hair
lichen", "black tree lichen", or "edible
horsehair") on larch (Laryx) in eastern
Washington. This is the most widely used edible
lichen in North America. In some traditional
societies it was a delicacy, and in others it was
a famine food. The NLaka'pamux (Thompson Indians)
and the Lillooet peoples in British Columbia made
shoes and clothes from this rather impractical
material. There is Bryoria clothing on display at
the American Museum of Natural History in New
York and the Field Museum in Chicago. A few
groups used this lichen medicinally the
Okanagan-Colville mixed dried lichen with grease
and rubbed it on the navels of newborn babies
the Nez Perce used it to treat digestive
troubles and the Atsugewi (Pit River) applied it
as a poultice to reduce swellings. It is eaten in
winter by large ungulates, from woodland caribou
to deer, and, in the forests east of the
Cascades, it is used by the northern flying
squirrel for food and nesting material.
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Cetraria islandica subspecies crispiformis, one
of the two subspecies of "true Iceland lichen",
on mossy soil. Portage Creek, near Anchorage,
Alaska. Cetraria islandica was used in
Scandinavia as a famine food and also as a bread
additive. It was used widely as an herbal
medicine for various ailments and as a tonic.
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Cladina stellaris, or "star-tipped reindeer
lichen" among talus boulders, northern Maine. In
the form of fermented caribou stomach contents,
this lichen was a favorite food in traditional
cultures of far-northern North America. It was
eaten fresh, and fed to dogs, in times of famine.
The Woods Cree (Nihithawak) used it as a
treatment for intestinal parasites. This lichen
species is probably the single most important
food source for caribou and reindeer, especially
in winter.
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"Oakmoss lichen" (Evernia prunastri) on a an oak
twig, northwestern California. This species is
harvested commercially in south-central Europe,
and then sent to France where it is used in the
manufacture of fine perfumes. The lichen acts as
a fixative for other scents, and also adds a
subtle herbal fragrance of its own.
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Letharia vulpina ("wolf lichen") on incense cedar
bark, western slope of the Sierra Nevada,
California. This was the most widely used dye
lichen for indigenous peoples in western North
America, used from the Rockies to the Pacific
coast, from California to Alaska. Some groups
also made paint from it. This lichen is
sufficiently poisonous that the Achomawi in
Northern California used it to make poison
arrowheads, but the Okanagan-Colville made a weak
tea of it to treat internal problems, and it was
a Blackfoot remedy for stomach disorders.
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"Lungwort", or "lung lichen" (Lobaria pulmonaria)
on a sugar maple (Acer saccharum) in New
Brunswick. This lichen is used in Britain as an
indicator of undisturbed ecosystems. Lobaria
pulmonaria reminded medieval European healers of
lung tissue, and they took this as a sign that it
was a remedy for lung ailments. The Hesquiat
people of British Columbia used it as a treatment
for coughing up blood, and it was also used for
lung troubles in Darjeeling and Sikkim. Lobaria
pulmonaria was used at a Siberian monastery long
ago in brewing a bitter beer.
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"Powdered ruffle lichen" (Parmotrema chinense) on
toyon bark, Santa Cruz Island, off of the coast
of southern California. This lichen is used
medicinally in India as a poultice to induce
copious urination, as a linament and an incense
for headaches, and also as a powder to help
wounds heal. Taken internally, it has a variety
of properties to treat many ailments.
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Pseudocyphellaria crocata on a branch of
manzanita (Arctostaphylos sp.) on the coast of
Oregon. The yellow powdery spots are soralia,
where balls of algae wrapped in fungal threads
are produced--a non-sexual means of reproduction.
This lichen is a source of brown dye for wool.
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Rimelia reticulata, one of the "cracked ruffle
lichens", on hardwood bark, southern Mississippi.
This lichen is a traditional ingredient in the
Indian spice mixture, Kabul Garam Masala. The
Tepehuan of Chihuahua, Mexico, used this lichen
in a tea to relieve discomfort from kidney
disorders or venereal disease
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Thamnolia vermicularis, the "whiteworm lichen",
on alpine soil, northwestern Washington. The
golden plover uses this lichen as nesting
material.
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Usnea fillipendula ("fishbone beard lichen") on a
spruce trunk, north shore of Lake Superior,
Ontario. Species of Usnea contain usnic acid,
which has well documented antibiotic properties.
Usnea has been used medicinally since ancient
times (in Greece and China at least) and
throughout the world, except, apparently, in
Australia.
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Usnea longissima, or "Methuselah's beard lichen",
hanging from a Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga
menziesii) in the Oregon Cascades. This is easily
the longest lichen in the world. It is extremely
sensitive to air pollution and has vanished from
most of Europe. Even in the Pacific Northwest,
where one occasionally sees good stands of it, it
has strict habitat requirements, is slow to grow
or to spread, and it should never be
collected. Usnea longissima was used for bedding
and pillow stuffing in places as far apart as the
Simla Hills of India and British Columbia,
Canada, and it may have been the original
Christmas tree tinsel. With names translating as
"pine gauze" and "Lao-tzu's beard," it was
described in the earliest Chinese herbal, from
about 500 A.D.
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Xanthoparmelia chlorochroa ("tumbleweed shield
lichen") on sandy soil, northwestern New Mexico.
This lichen continues to be an important dye
source for Navajo weavers. The Navajo also used
it as a remedy for impetigo. It is a "vagrant"
lichen, not attached to any substrate.
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Xanthoria parietina ("maritime sunburst lichen")
on a marble gravestone, near the coast of Maine.
Medieval healers took the color of this lichen as
a sign that it was a remedy for jaundice. It is a
folk remedy for kidney disorders and several
other ailments in parts of Andalucia, Spain. It
grows near both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts,
but not inland.