Bryoria spp.

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ALSO CALLED: [“Bear hair”, “Witches’ Hair”]

NOTE:   Alectoria jubata is a common lichen name referred to in old literature and may be referring to either Bryoria spp. or Bryoria fremontii. References to Alectoria jubata that are thought to be referring specifically to Bryoria fremontii are dealt with under that lichen heading, the rest are dealt with under Bryoria spp.

FOLK NAMES: Lappo [name also applied to other Alectoria-like and Usnea-like beard lichens] (Saami: northern Scandinavia); P’elems [name also applied to Alectoria spp, Peltigera spp., and Sticta spp., and mosses] (Southern Kwakiult)

USES:   Animal forage (Saami: northern Scandinavia), Animal feed (Saami and Scandinavians: northern Scandinavia), Alcohol (Sweden, northern Europe, northern Russia), Dye (Europe, Coastal Salish), Fiber (Interior Salish, Southern Kwakiult)

Alectoria 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. Bryoria spp. [Alectoria jubata] is commonly collected as fodder for domestic livestock in Scandinavia by the Scandinavians and the Saami, especially when supplies of Cladina rangiferina run low. SEE: Cladina spp. for more information on lichens as forages and animal feed.

Bryoria spp. [Alectoria jubata] has been used to make brandy in northern Europe and northern Russia. This process was most commonly used with Cladina rangiferina, but several other lichen species have been used. SEE: Making Brandy from Lichen under Cladina rangiferina.

The Stl’atl’imx (Lillooet), Nlaka'pamux (Thompson), and other Interior Salish peoples in British Columbia would use Bryoria spp., Alectoria spp., and Usnea spp. fiber for weaving clothing such as ponchos and footwear (Turner 1998). The lichen was usually interwoven with stronger materials such as silverberry bark. Garments made from these lichens were not very useful when wet and were considered to be of poor quality. They were usually worn by those who couldn’t obtain skins for clothing. Lichens were also used to make some ceremonial garments.

Bryoria spp., along with other lichens such as Alectoria spp, Peltigera spp., and Sticta spp., and mosses, were called P’elems by the Southern Kwakiult and were used as household material for activities such as lining steaming pits and wiping blood and slime off salmon (washing or scraping the fish ruined the taste) (Turner and Bell 1973).

According to Uphof (1959), Bryoria spp. [Alectoria jubata] was used in England to stain wool a pale green to brown-red colour. But there are may also records of Bryoria spp. [Alectoria jubata] being used by Coastal Salish to make a yellow dye (Ravenhill 1938, cited in Turner and Bell 1971; Turner 1998). It may have been mixed with Letharia vulpina for this purpose (Turner 1998). Bryoria spp. [Alectoria jubata] was also used in perfumery (Uphof 1959).

Bryoria species usually contain fumarprotocetraric acid and can contain a wide variety of other compounds (Brodo et al. 2001). Llano (1944b) reports that Bryoria spp. [Alectoria jubata] has a particularly high protein to fat content for a lichen, being 7.77% protein. This content varied with the season.