Funny, I found a whole bunch of this growing in just one little area when I was a kid in Kentucky. Never saw it any where else. Never knew what it was until now. We also had a few other plants growing wild there occasionally that were not indigenous to that area as well such as yucca and prickly pear.
I've used this often. However, when I've boiled it I can barely stomach it; in fact, it almost makes me puke. However, when I have dried it out until it's brittle, then smash it down into a powder or flour, mix with wild grapes, add a bit of water until it's doughey, then cook on a heated rock by the fire as a bannock, it's much better than simply trying to eat raw or boiled. I have never tried leaching it in a stream over night before eating but that is now on my to do list. Also, there's a story that I tell when attempting to describe a lichen to someone who has no clue what lichens are; goes like this: One day green algae (plant) and a fungi (a non-plant parasitic organism) was sitting on a rock just LICHEN one another. They fell in love with each other and formed a symbiotic relationship together. Now the green algae needs the the fungi for stability and moisture and the fungi needs the green algae for minerals and nutrients. Take one away from the other and the LICHEN will cease to exist.
@MrCableguyken this plant has saved many lives in the tundra....true it has very little nutritional value but it does psychological value....food in the belly helps the mind even when the food isnt thhat valuable
I've never tried it myself, as I've heard it tastes like ... well, it isn't good. Also, I believe it was an older fellow who mentioned you can thicken soups and stews with it. Thanks for posting.
In general, reindeer lichen do not provide any significant nutritional benefit to humans, as they lack the reindeer's stomach enzymes necessary to break down the complex carbohydrates. However, native peoples did eat the partially digested lichens in the stomachs of freshly killed reindeer, In a severe survival situation lichen can be eaten unprepared and uncooked.
Put it in a cloth bag and place in a stream overnight. Or soak a few nights in a few changes of water. I hear boiling it works, but have not tried that. To me it is fairly tasteless but makes a good thickener for soups and stews.
Operations Grouse (recon for sabotage of Hitler's heavy water production plant in Norway) lived on this stuff for months. "uRncU2SSXls". Seen another reenactment which went into details about how when the reindeer returned they'd store the reindeer stomach for later as an enzyme breaks down the acid.
@MrCableguyken You will survive but you will also have a severe stomach ache that will make you want to die. The amount of carbs per lichen species and its availability varies. To make the lichen edible they are soaked in several changes of water, better, several changes of water with bicarbonate of soda added to each soaking.
