What poor peasant provides an important chemical test?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
January 14, 2002
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Linnaeus had no respect for lichen calling these colonial organisms, "the poor peasants of the plant world". Lichen were not even scientifically studied until the mid-1800s. Considering these small colonies cover ten times the area of the earth as rainforests, perhaps more attention should come their way. But studied or not, lichen have been useful.
John Gerard and other herbalists placed lichen into the plant kingdom. Confusion reigned as to whether lichen were mosses or liverworts. In Gerard's The Herbal (1633), the old man's beard lichen (Usnea spp.) are called Moscus quernus (moss of oaks), foliose lichen were generally called Hepatica petraea (stone liverworts), and Hepatica terrestris (ground liverwort) looks remarkably like what is now known as Lobaria pulmonaria.
Gerard wrote that Moscus ex cranio humano "found upon the skulls of men and women...lying long in charnell houses or other places...it groweth very thicke, white,...is thought to be a singular remedie against the falling evill (epilepsy) and the chin-cough (?) in children, if it be powdered, and then given in sweet wine...." Dioscorides was said to recommend the use of lichen to staunch bleeding and treat tetter (vesicular skin diseases) and ringworm.
Humans have also made use of the lichen, Letharia vulpina mixed with ground meat to poison wolves, reindeer lichen (Cladina spp.) to feed livestock in northern countries, and a number of species to dye fabrics. Of all the types of 'vegetable' dyes, those made from lichen (Roccella, Ochrolechia, Variolaria, and others) did not require a mordant (a chemical that fixes the color to the fiber) when used with wool and silk.
The color could also be varied by whether the dye was mixed with ammonia (a base). This variation in color lead to the discovery that lichen dye could be used to determine pH, acids and bases in chemistry. Litmus paper is still manufactured using lichen dyes.
Sylvia and Stephen Sharnoff have created a beautiful website about lichen. To view this website, click on the link:
http://www.lichen.com/index.html 
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
Deer Lichen (Cladina) species Plant of the Week - January 14, 2002
Lichens and mosses and bears, oh my! Renfield's Garden - January 16, 2002
What was the scarlet of the Aztecs? Renfield's Garden - July 24, 2002
How does the hydrangea change color? Weird Plants - January 17, 2002
How did dowsers use witch hazel? Herbal Folklore - March 8, 2004
What fruit creates a taste illusion? Weird Plants - March 4, 2004
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