Plant Study
Usnea Lichen
Family Name: Usnea
Family Name: Usneacea
Fungal Kingdom
Latin Name: Usnea wirthii, spp.
Common Names: Old Man’s Beard (Gladstar 368), U. wirthii: Blood-spattered
beard, U. longissima: Methuselah’s beard (Mackinnon and Pojar
503). U. barbata: Larch Moss or Beard Moss (Vogel 84).
Native American Names: Dakota: Chan wiziye: “On the north side of the tree” or “spirit of the north wind” (Buhner 134). “Newcombe (1903) used the tern pekatlh for wolf lichen” (Turner 70).
Related Species: U. wirthii, U. longissima, U. barbata, U. hirta, U. florida, U. certina, U. dasypoga, Alectoria sarmentosa: Common witches hair; lacks the central cord (Mackinnon and Pojar 504).
Body System Affiliations: [LIST]
1. Mucous membranes throughout several organs and their related systems:
Respiratory, Urinary, Reproductive, and Gastro-intestinal (Buhner 134).
2. Lymphatic and immune systems (Holmes 324).
3. Digestive.
4. Skin.
Botanical Description:
Habit: U. wirthii: Shrub lichen. U. longissima: Hair lichen. Instead
of invading or scavenging for a living like other fungi, lichen fungi
cultivate algae within themselves. Algae are photo-synthesizers. In return
the fungus provides protection from the elements (Mackinnon and Pojar
484).
Size: 2-4 cm long (MacKinnon and Pojar 503).
Appearance: U. wirthii: tufted to somewhat hanging. U. longissima hangs in
long massive strands on some trees in wetter climates (Buhner 134). Hairy appearance;
rubbery texture. U. wirthii’s tufted growth habit, pale yellow central
cord and (sparse) red spots distinguish it from other species. Central cord
is unique to this genus (Mackinnon and Pojar 503)!
Arrangement: Two parts in symbiosis: the outer cortex contains the antibiotic
compounds; the inner thallus, a thin white thread inside the cortex, contains
the immune-stimulating substance. Elastic when wet; stiff when dry. Round,
and covered by minute projections called papillate (Buhner 134).
Reproduction: Many small, stiff branches bear tiny powdery balls, called sopedia,
near the tips. The sopedia are carried to new locales (Mackinnon and Pojar
503).
Ecology:
Habitat: Grows on Fruit trees, fir, oak, and pine (Buhner 134). U. barbata
grows on aging trees. Subalpine. (Gladstar 368). Alpine coniferous trees
(Vogel 84). Can be found on the backs of Larch trees over 3,000 feet
(Vogel 90-91). U. wirthii: On conifers in open lowland forests (Mackinnon
and Pojar 503)
Range: Throughout the Northern Hemishere (Holmes 625)..
Ecological Relationships:
o Usnea plays a special role in keeping the lung system of our planet
clear of infection. In this, Usnea plays a crucial role in maintaining
our rainfall patterns. The benfits we get from this relationship are
secondary, through just as powerful.
o Deers and chamois enjoy it too (Vogel 91)!
o U. longissima is best developed in old growth forests and will not
persist in short rotation second growth forests. It has already disappeared
from many localities throughout much of its range, like Europe (Mackinnon
and Pojar 503).
Places/Dates Observed/Description: Anytime I’ve gone into the rainforest,
whether it’s at Staircase Rapids, the Hoh Rainforest, or even into
the Longhouse Ethnobotanical garden, I’ve observed Usnea growing
and lounging in its deceptively simple style.
Harvest:
Plant Part: Whole
Method of Harvest:
o Because of the ancient pact with the trees and their ancient power, one should
make a relationship with the deeper aspects of Tree, and ask permission to
have a relationship with Usnea (Buhner 134).
o Buhner’s poem…
Grandfather Usnea
You stride from the north
With long legs
I call on you
In behalf of all human beings
Requesting your teachings
Between yourself and the trees
And bring us your healing power
o Approach with respect, ask both the tree and Usnea for permission
to harvest, letting them know your intentions, and asking for the plant
spirit to be with the medicine. Listen for the answer. Pluck it at the
branch.
Ecological Considerations of Harvest:
o The utmost respect and observance must be brought to the plant and
the area in which one is harvesting.
Cultural Considerations of Harvest: As always, the cultural use of the
plant by its local community must be respected.
Cautions: My friend Ben says Alectoria sarmentosa, a look alike, is poisonous;
though I have yet to confirm this. Alectoria is differentiated from Usnea
in that it does not have a central cord. (Mackinnon and Pojar 504).
Energetics:
Parts Used: The lichen thallus.
Qualities: Sweet, a bit bitter, cool, calming, stimulating, relxing.
Tropism: Air, warmth bodies. Lung, liver meridians.
Indications:
o Clears toxic heat and reduces infection, inflammation, and fever; stimulates
immunity and promotes urination. External/lung wind heat indications.
o Promotes expectoration, opens the chest, resolves hot phlegm and relieves
wheezing. Lung phlegm heat indications.
o Promotes tissure repair and prevents decay.
Preparations: Cold water infusion steeped at least 6 hours, or tincture. Also,
washes, compresses, vaginal sponges, douches, and gargles.
Pharmacy:
o Cold infusion: 10-20 g (up to 30 g in acute conditions).
o Tincture: 2-4 ml (Holmes 624).
World Culture’s Use/Significance/Relationships:
Other Names: Usnea Babue (FR), Bartflecte (GE), Song Luo (Mand), Chung
lo (Cant).
Materials/Technology:
o Many tribes have used Usnea as a dye (Buhner 135).
o The Haida have used Usnea to strain impurities from hot pitch before
the pitch was used as medicine(Mackinnon and Pojar 503).
o “One could dip it in silver paint to make beautiful Christmas
decorations” (Turner 70).
Medicine:
Medicinal Actions: Eupeptic, antiseptic, and antibacterial (Buhner 135).
Indigenous Group: Kiowa
Indications: Abscesses
Indigenous Group: Canary Islands
Indications: General wound healer
Indigenous Group: Italy
Indications: Eupeptic
Indigenous Group: Argentina
Indications: Antiseptic
Indigenous Group: Saudi Arabia
Indications: Antibacterial
Indigenous Group: Chile
Indications: Anti-tumor agent
Indigenous Group: Korean and Arabic countries
Indications: Delayed menstruation (Buhner 135).
Applications: Tea or, as it is poorly soluble in water, an alcohol tincture
(Buhner 135).
Cautions: Contra-indicated during pregnancy (Buhner 135).
Mythology: Coyote used this as a special type of decoration when he was masquerading
as an Indian doctor at Stein Creek (Turner 70).
Other:
o “Represents North, the place of the gray hairs” (Buhner 135).
o Traditional remedy in Europe, China, and Russia (Holmes 625).
Western (European-American) Uses/Relationships:
Food: High in carbohydrates, considerable nutritive value (Vogel 90-91).
Medicine:
Body System Associations: Respiratory, urinary, reproductive, skin and related
mucous membranes.
Constituents: Usnic acid
Part Used: Whole plant
Medicinal Actions: Antifungal (Moore 173), and an antibiotic rivaling penicillin
(Buhner 134). Antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, and antipyretic (Holmes 625).
Indications: As an immunity enhancer (Gladstar 368), to combat weakness of
the respiratory organs (Vogel 99):
o Colds: builds up resistance of the mucous membranes (Vogel 84).
o Flu
o Sinus infections
o Streptococcus
o Bronchitis
o Pneumonia
o Pleurisy(Buhner 135).
Applications:
o Combine with Echinacea (Gladstar 368).
o Topically: powdered or whole.
o Internally: tinctured, eaten whole, powdered or taken as a tea. (Gladstar
368).
Pharmacy: Take with the onset of a sore throat and runny nose, or if you have
cold tendencies. Chew it along your path (Vogel 90-91).
Indications: As an antibiotic:
o Urinary tract infections
o Trichomonas and yeast infections
o Bladder infections
o Cystitis
Applications: Powder (Gladstar 368), douche (Buhner 134), sitz bath (Moore
173), suppository, or tincture:
? As a tincture: combine with Uva Ursi Leaf, Pipsissema Leaf, and Echinacea.
Pharmacy: 40-60 drops to small amount of warm water every 1-2 hours till the
infection is gone. Not more than 5-7 days (Herbal Resarch Publication 74-75).
o Skin infection (Gladstar 368).
o Chronic and suppurative wounds.
o Acute bacterial infections
o Tuberculosis
Pharmacy: Tincture: 2-7 droppers full 3x a day for 6 months (Buhner135).
o Plastic surgery
o Dysentery
o Staphylococcus
o Lupus
o Mastitis
o Varicose
o Tropic ulcers
o 2nd and 3rd degree burns (Buhner 135).
o Catarrh (Vogel 90-91).
Applications:
o Topically: powdered or whole, poultice or liniment.
o Internally: tinctured, eaten whole, powdered or taken as a tea (Gladstar
368).
Indications: As an antifungal:
o Fungal infections (Gladstar 368).
o Ringworm
o Athlete’s foot (Buhner 135).
o Postpartum mothers
o Vaginitis
o Bacterial vaginosis
Applications: Powder (Gladstar 368), douche (Buhner 134), sitz bath (Moore
173), suppository, or tincture.
o Combines well with Madrone, Yerba Mansa, and Sweet Root (Moore 173).
o Topically: powdered or whole, poultice or liniment.
o Internally: tinctured, eaten whole, powdered or taken as a tea (Gladstar
368).
Indications: As a bitter principle:
o Helps soothe the stomach while enhancing digestion (Gladstar 368).
Applications: Tinctured, eaten whole, powdered, or taken as a tea (Gladstar
368).
Preparations:
o Hot infusion: pour hot water over the herb, stir well, cover the vessel tightly,
and let stand for 20 to 30 minutes in a warm place. Press and strain out the
marc (Green 109).
o Cold infusion: Steep herb in water for at least 6 hours (Holmes 624).
o Fresh tincture: Grind herb to a moderately coarse powder. Place the powder
into a large jar that can be tightly closed. Add the menstruum till the herb
is well covered and stir it well. Check the menstruum in 24 hours to assure
the herb is covered. Shake and let sit for two weeks. Decant the clear tincture
from the top, press the remaining pulp, filter, bottle, cap, and label (Green
149). 1 part fresh herb weight: 2 parts 50% alcohol. Dry 1:5. Make a decoction
for 5-10 minutes and take off heat. (It is best extracted with heat and alcohol.)
Then add 50% alcohol. (Krohn).
Pharmacy: 30-60 drops, 2-4 times a day (Krohn).
o Liniment: prepared the same as a tincture but labeled “For External
Use Only” if rubbing alcohol is used. Let stand for one week before decanting
(Green 301).
o Poultice: boil the fresh herb, squeeze out any surplus liquid and spread
it on the affected area. Smooth a little oil on the skin first, to prevent
the herb from sticking. Apply guaze or cotton strips to hold the poultice carefully
in place (Ody 124).
o Douche: Let hot infusion cool.
o Suppository: Cocoa butter, or coconut, oil base, warm infusion: the powdered
herb is added to the melted base (Green 223) enough to make a thick paste,
yet still pliable enough to work inot the size and shape of your small finger
(Gladstar as quoted by Green)
o Sitz Bath:
? Hot/Cold: 106-110 degrees F. with 110 -112 degrees F. foot bath. Water should
be ½” below navel. 2-5 minutes. Alternated with 55-75 degrees
F., with 110 degree foot bath. Water should be ½” below the navel.
20-60 seconds. Start with hot and end with cold. Cover with blanket. While
in hot, apply ice to head and back of neck. Lie down for ½ hour afterward.
? Neutral: 92-97 degrees F. with 105-110 degrees F. foot bath. Water to navel
level. ¼ -2 hours. (Green 267-268).
Storage: In a cool, dark place, in an airtight container.
Applications:
o Seems most effective as a tincture (Gladstar 368).
Cautions: Contra-indicated during pregnancy (Buhner 135).
Personal Experience:
Food: I chewed on Usnea, to understand its taste and effect. The plant
created a few strange sensations. The outer “branches” tasted
dry and powdery, and the internal thread like grissle. The taste was
tangy and slightly bitter, somehow familiar though I couldn’t figure
out the association.
Medicine:
Part Used: The whole plant.
Harvest:
Site Location: Evergreen Longhouse Ethnobotanical garden
Site Description: The site is an intersection of travel, surrounded on all
short sides by a cement walking path. The light is good, the topography slightly
sloped. Humans pass by regulary, as I’m sure the animals do when we’re
not around. I choose this site for its proximity to to those of us working
to establish relations between the plants and the two-legged ones.
Technique: Introduced myself while touching the trees and the lichen, checking
for the stretchy internal cord that would identify the plants as Usnea. As
I began to pluck them from their branches, I sang:
Usnea….Usnea…Thank you for your gifts. I will treat you with respect. With all I have and more… come knock on my door. (With all I have and more…forever mi amor).
Processing: When I brought the harvested plant home, I cleaned out a
basket, lined it with a cloth, and placed Usnea inside to rest for a
few days.
Storage: In an airtight container in a dark pantry.
Application/Preparation/Pharmacy:
Applications: Fresh Usnea brandy tincture, 40% alcohol.
Preparation: Picking up and inspecting each tuft, I removed the clinging pine
needles and dead “branches.” Sometimes I removed the piece of branch
that had come with the tuft, and sometimes I didn’t…deciding that
the symbiotic relationship Usnea has with the trees have should also be infused
in the medicine. I decided that the tufts wanted to remain as whole as possible,
and stuffed them into a jar which I then filled with the 40 percent alcohol
of Brandy.
Pharmacy: 30-60 drops, 2-4 times a day (Krohn)..
Reason/Purpose: I intend to use this tincture for indications of cold, respiratory
weakness, and as a general antibiotic.
Experience: The song felt good, fitting, and natural. My friend Geniveve joined
me just as I finished the harvest. When I started the processing, I talked
to my friend Tyler on the phone and found myself, as seems common these days,
giggly and playful through my heavy heart. I like that this fitting sense of
connection and support came into the process of this medicine – like
the relationship between the Usnea and trees is a a forest of interconnectedness.
Other Notes of Interest:
o Usnea derives from Arabic and means, inaccurately, moss (Mackinnon
and Pojar 503).
o Not used by modern herbalists until a few years ago (Gladstar 368).
References Cited:
1. Buhner, Stephen. Sacred Plant Medicine. Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho:
Raven Press, 1996.
2. Gladstar, Rosemary. Family Herbal. North Adams, Massachsetts: Storey
Books, 2001.
3. Green, James. The Herbal Medicine-Maker’s Handbook. Berkley,
California: The Crossing Press, 2000.
4. Herbal Research Publications, Inc. Naturopathic Handbook of Herbal
Formulas. Massachusettes: Herbal Research Publications, Inc., 1995.
5. Holmes, Peter. The Energetics of Western Herbs. Boulder, Colorado:
Snow Lotus Press, 1989.
6. Krohn, Elise. “Making Herbal Tinctures”
7. Mackinnon, Andy, and Jim Pojar. Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast.
Vancouver, British Columbia: Ministry of Forests and Lone Pine Publishing,
1994.
8. Moore, Michael. Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West. Santa fe, New
Mexico: Red Crane Books, 2001.
9. Ody, Penelope. The Complete Medicinal Herbal. New York, New York:
Dorling Kindersley, 1993.
10. Turner, Nancy, etc. Thompson Ethnobotany. B.C., Canada: Royal British
Columbia Museum, 1990.
11. Vogel, Dr. H.C.A. The Nature’s Doctor. New Canaan, Connecticut:
Keats Publishing, Inc.:1991.
Rebecca TownsEnd - Art, Environment, and the Child - Fall - 2005
