Bryocaulon divergens

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ALSO CALLED: “Northern fox hair”; syn. Cornicularia divergens

FOLK NAMES: Tingaujaq [name also applied to other “caribou moss”, Alectoria ochroleuca, Alectoria nigricans, and Bryoria nitidula] (Barrens-Keewatin, Baffin Island, Ungava-Labrador, and Greenland Inuit); Tingaujaq [name probably also applied to other “dry black moss”, Alectoria nigricans and Bryoria nitidula] (North Slope Inuit); Lappo [name also applied to other Alectoria-like and Usnea-like beard lichens] (Saami: northern Scandinavia)

USES:   Animal feed (Barrens-Keewatin, Baffin Island, Ungava-Labrador, and Greenland Inuit), Animal forage (Saami: northern Scandinavia), Tinder (North Slope Inuit)

Bryocaulon divergens, Alectoria ochroleuca, Alectoria nigricans, and Bryoria nitidula were called Tingaujaq by the Barrens-Keewatin, Baffin Island, Ungava-Labrador, and Greenland Inuit of the North American arctic (Wilson, 1979). These lichens were known to be the favorite food of young caribou, and children would use them to lure in fawns so that they could touch them (Wilson, 1979). The North Slope Inuit from the north coast of Alaska call a “dry black moss” (probably Bryocaulon divergens, Alectoria nigricans, and/or Bryoria nitidula) by the same name, and they used it as tinder (Wilson, 1979).

Bryocaulon spp. and other Alectoria-like and Usnea-like beard lichens are called Lappo by the Saami of northern Scandinavia. The Saami recognize that these lichens are quite liked by reindeer but do not form a large part of their diet. SEE: Cladina spp. for more information on this

Bryocaulon divergens contains olivetoric acid (Brodo et al. 2001).