BEARD LICHEN

any member of the genus Usnea, a yellow or greenish fruticose (bushy, branched) lichen with long stems and disk-shaped holdfasts, which resembles a tangled mass of threads. It occurs in both the Arctic and the tropics, where it is eaten by wild animals or collected as fodder. In the past it was used as a remedy for whooping cough, catarrh, epilepsy, and dropsy. It has been used also as an astringent, a tonic, and a diuretic. Old-man's-beard (U. barbata) was first described in 300 BC as a hair-growth stimulant. Hanging moss (U. longissima) looks like gray threads about 1.5 m (5 feet) long hanging from tree branches in humid, mountainous regions. Some species of Usnea also produce an orange dye. It is the "beard moss," or "tree moss," of the poets and Shakespeare's "idle moss." It is sometimes confused with the plant known as Spanish moss, which is similar in appearance but is unrelated to lichens.