The British Soldier Lichen (Cladonia macilenta) And Moss

“There are species of edible lichen. Umbilicaria esculenta (Japanese: Iwatake; Korean: Seogi) are collected from cliffs for use in a variety of traditional Korean and Japanese foods. Lichen flour is used by the Tarahumara as an ingredient of Tesguino.[33] Other people eat lichen too, and not just as a survival food. Most lichens must be prepared carefully before consumption because of their high acid content. Of the twenty thousand or so species, at least two are confirmed toxic.

Lichens occur in some of the most extreme environments on Earth—arctic tundra, hot deserts, rocky coasts and toxic slag heaps.”

– Wikipedia

The British Soldier Lichen (Cladonia macilenta) is a fruiting lichen which resembles a British soldier with a bright red cap. Though the mushrooms are small, their bright color and distinctive form make them stand out in their forest habitat.

This entry was posted in Edible Plants, Food And Water, Low Impact Gardening, Sustainability and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.