Family:
Cladina arbuscula ssp. beringiana
present secondary metabolites: constictic acid | cryptostictic acid | fumarprotocetraric acid | norstictic acid | rangiformic acid | stictic acid | usnic acid
substrate: soil, clay, humus, turf, detritus, dead leaves. [Lichenportal]
Synonyms
Cladonia arbuscula (Wallr.) Flotow
Cladonia sylvatica auct.
China - " Used for dizziness, hypertension, pulmonary tuber- culosis, fever, trauma with pus formation, and skin infections due to external injury (Wang and Qian 2013)" [Rankovic LSM]
Cladina ciliata - Least reindeer
Cladina mitis - Ectomorphic reindeer
Cladina portentosa - Maritime reindeer
"...species living relatively closely together in the same habitat can display quite variable lengths and frequencies of their hydration–desiccation cycles. In this case, the terricolous and mat-forming lichen Cladina rangiferina remained wet for considerably longer periods compared with the epiphytic fruticose lichen Alectoria sarmentosa, reflecting a higher exposure to the air of the latter species and the absence of a large boundary layer reducing water diffusion rates (Jonsson, Moen and Palmqvist, unpublished data)." [LichenBio2]
"Consumed alone or as stomach contents of caribou" [Turner&Kuhnlein]
Ojibwe - "Boil and use water to wash a newborn baby (Smith
1932)" [Rankovic LSM]
Cree - "Used to treat inflammation associated with diabetes
(Fraser 2006)" [Rankovic LSM]
Finland - "Remedy for coughs and tuberculosis. Boil in water
and drink (Richardson 1974)" [Rankovic LSM]
China - "Used for fever, headaches, cuts, coughing up blood,
jaundice, blurred vision, cloudy cornea, difficulty
urinating, urinary tract infection, irritable depression,
rheumatism, and phlegm due to dry throat. Drink
decoction; or apply decoction or powdered lichen to
affected area (Wang and Qian 2013)" [Rankovic LSM]
India - "Remedy for kidney stones. Half teaspoon of
sun-dried, ground lichen added to one cup boiling
water. Drunk in morning on empty stomach for
1 month or until cured (Rout et al. 2005)" [Rankovic LSM]
Reindeer lichens are important medicinal agents. Cladonia rangiferina (L.) F. H. Wigg. syn.
Cladina rangiferina (L.) Nyl. (Cladoniaceae) is the commonly studied reindeer lichen. Northern
native people used reindeer lichen in medicinal teas to treat colds, arthritis, fevers and other
problems. Reindeer lichens were also used as a poultice to relieve the ache of
arthritic joints. Reindeer lichens have been taken to treat fever, jaundice
constipation, convulsions, coughs, and tuberculosis. Cladonia pyxidata (L.) Hoffm.
is a useful remedy for whooping cough. [HPEP]
"Rangiformic acid (32) is a higher dicarboxylic acid. Its structure was identified by NMR [18]. Rangiformic acid was extracted from the lichen Cladina retipora." (Podterob,2008)
"Different kinds of lichens grow on the ground and on trees. The former may contain higher amounts of elements from soil than the latter because of the higher degree of contact. Ground-dwelling lichens should contain higher amounts of Al, Fe, Cr, Si and other soil elements than those living high off the ground on trees. Sampling such species at the same locations will allow comparisons between these elements to de- termine the degree of soil influence in the area. We have conducted two such studies using Clad- ina rangiferina as the soil lichen and Evernia, Hypogymnia or Parmelia species for the epiphytic species and found the latter have higher concen- trations of heavy metals (Bennett and Wetmore, 1997, 1999). In those studies, however, the Clad- ina lichens did not have higher concentrations of soil elements, possibly due to the large species differences in uptake." (Bennett2000)
Noted as a food species. [WEFGO]
Cladina stellaris (Opiz) Brodo [Cladina alpestris]
Nihithawak (SK, Canada) - "Drink to expel intestinal worms: either decoction or
powdered lichen added to water (Leighton 1985)" [Rankovic LSM]
Inuit (Nunavut, Canada) - "Broth used for sickness and eye infections (Black
et al. 2008)" [Rankovic LSM]
Primorsky and Sakhalin (Russian Far
East) - "Powdered form used to treat wounds and some
infections (Moskalenko 1986)" [Rankovic LSM]
China - "Used for hypertension, headaches, nosebleeds, eye
diseases, tuberculosis, menstrual disorders, and vag-
inal discharge. Drink decoction (Hu et al. 1980;
Wang and Qian 2013)" [Rankovic LSM]
Syn Cladonia stygia (Fr.) Ruoss
Secondary metabolites: present, atranorin | fumarprotocetraric acid | unknown/unidentified compound(s) | unknown/unidentified fatty acid(s).[Lichenportal]
"Of the terrestrial lichens the Cla- doniae are, economically, the most im- portant because of their size, their wide-branching structure, their close- growing habit and wide distribution in circumpolar lands. Of the innumerable species described, the Cladina group-- Cladonia alpestris, Cl. mitis, Cl. impexa, Cl. rangi]erina and C1. sylvatica--is characterized by a strong development of the secondary thalli, or podetia, and an absence of primary thalli. Growth of the secondary thalli is apical and nlore or less continuous. Regeneration is, in the usual absence of apothecia, de- pendent upon fragmentation. The spe- cies grow singly or intermixed in cush- ions or carpet-like mats extending over many miles. They thrive best under an open forest canopy in areas of definite snow cover and, when damp, withstand considerable trampling. They grow best over glacial drift and compete well with, and even prevent the normal develop- ment of, vascular plant seedlings. Al- though they have wide habitat capabil- ities, Cladoniae show slow recovery after fire." (Llano,George 1956)
"In Cladonia subgenus Cladina the annual growth can be extremely regular. Every year a new nodium with lateral branches is formed at the top of the treelike thallus." [Ahmadjian Lichens]
"Depending on their sensitivity to moisture, lichens show very marked zonations. In marshes most taxa of Cladina can be found on tussocks or drier parts, but seldom in the wet depressions." [Ahmadjian Lichens]
"The various lichen species reported to have been eaten are listed in Table 4-2. Major species eaten traditionally include: black tree lichen (Bryoria fremontii); rock tripe (Actinogyra spp.,Umbilicaria spp.); and reindeer lichens (Cladina spp.), used fresh or collected partially digested from caribou rumens." [Turner&Kuhnlein]
"Reindeer lichen and its relatives were apparently seldom used fresh by Indigenous Peoples except during times of emergency. According to Hawkes (1916) the Labrador Inuit used "caribou moss" in times of starvation, to sustain life. The Ojibwa were said to have eaten it, but details of its preparation are lacking (Black, 1980). The Inland Tanaina of Alaska boil it or soak it in hot water until it is soft, then eat it plain or mixed with berries, fish eggs or grease. They also cook it and feed it to their dogs. It is sometimes boiled and eaten to stop diarrhea, but it is known to cause stomach trouble in some people if it is not cooked well (Kari, 1987). Porsild (1951) states that lichens were used as emergency food only by White travellers in the North, but not by Indigenous Peoples." [Turner&Kuhnlein]
"The main food use of reindeer lichen as a major component of the partially digested stomach contents of caribou and other ungulates. Often mixed together with other lichens such as Cetraria, mushrooms, horsetails, sedges, grasses, willow, birch, and blueberry leaves and shoots, and other plant foods, it was considered a delicacy in this form. This food was used traditionally by most Inuit peoples.... Because the complex lichen polysaccharides and proteins were apparently partially broken down in the animal's rumen, this material was more easily digestible for humans." [Turner&Kuhnlein]
"These lichens provide an important component of the ground cover grazed by animals, and are also used by Laplanders to make hay for their animals. Reindeer lichens are popular in Germany as decorations on wreaths and are also well-known among model railway enthusiasts and architects who use the highly branched fruticose thalli as miniature trees (Kauppi, 1979; Richardson, 1988)." [IntrotoFun3]
"Species of the genus Cladina are mostly used as decorative florist ‘moss’, and are sometimes dyed in different colours. Reindeer moss (Cladina stellaris) is one of the most important decorative materials in the Nordic countries. About 500 tonnes of lichens are collected in peak years in Finland and mainly exported to Central Europe and the USA (Kettunen et al. 2012). Tradition- ally, several folks have used lichens for deco- rating traditional costumes, as artificial hair of masks, worn in rituals and ceremonies, for instance in Papua New Guinea, North America and some villages in Austria (Sharnoff 1998)." [Upreti RAL]
Cladina spp. Nyl.
Den’ina (Alaska, USA) - "Decoction used for diarrhea (Kari 1987)" [Rankovic LSM]
Upper Tanana (AK, USA) - "A “liquor” prepared from plant was drunk for colds
(McKennan 1959)" [Rankovic LSM]
Aleut (Alaska, USA) - "Drunk as a tea for chest pains. Hunters who are
climbing hills chew the lichen to maintain their wind
(Bank 1953; Smith 1973)" [Rankovic LSM]
Nganasans (Siberia) - "Remedy for scurvy" [Rankovic LSM]
Saami (Scandinavia) - "Decoction for unspecified medicine (Nissen 1921;
Eidlitz 1969)" [Rankovic LSM]
"Cladina sp.) inhibit EM formation on various tree species (24). Trees growing in the absence of lichen cover may be up to 20 times as large as trees growing with lichen (25)." [Waller Allelochemicals]
"It is possible that at least lichens producing usnic acid can adversely affect soil fertility. Malicki (1965) found that some usnic acid is leached out of usnic-producing Cladinae and can be found in the soil beneath them. He also found that ammonification bacteria and those decomposing cellulose are affected by the antibiotic properties of usnic acid (although there is no effect on Azotobacter) (Malicki, 1967)." [Ahmadjian Lichens]
"Lichens bind metal cations and accumulate metal-rich particles within the thallus. Cladonia, subgenus Cladina (Fig. 2.28C) species, mainly C. rangiferina and C. stellaris, that consitute 'Reindeer Moss' or more accurately 'Reindeer Lichen', a major component of the arctic vegetation, accumulates radionuclides from fall-out from H-bomb testing " [TheFungi2]
"In the genus Cladina, small but statistically significant interspecies differences in element concentrations have been reported in several studies [47, 64, 70]. These differences may reflect differences in thallus surface structure such as the presence or absence of an epicortex." [Nimis MwL]
"Topographical variations between one microhabitat and another can exert a significant effect on a lichen's ability to accumulate airborne elements; seasonal differences, such as snow coverage, also play an important part, and changes in habitat over the monitoring period, such as the development of canopy over the site under investigation, cannot be ignored. Changes in pH brought about on the one hand by acidification and on the other by excessive use of agrochemicals can affect the mobility of radioelements, eg 137Cs. Although in most cases whole lichen thalli are studied, consideration should be given to the spatial distribution of radioelements within the samples examined; for example, it has been shown that there is a vertical difference in accumulation ability for Cladonia (subgenus Cladina) spp. which reflects the level of metabolic activity, but even the thallial parts deemed to be 'dead' are sinks for significant burdens (33, 43, 56)." [Nimis MwL]
"Caribou—and reindeer too—are unique among the ungulates in their re- liance on lichens as a primary source of winter food. In most regions support- ing caribou, winter snows are relatively shallow, and caribou are able to paw through the snowpack to feed on ground-dwelling lichens, especially reindeer lichens (Cladina)." [DellaSalsa TBRW]
"The reindeer lichen genus Cladina is closely related to Cladonia (Stenroos & DePriest, 1998). The most common species are C. rangiferina (Plate 8f) and C. stellaris, which are a major winter food for grazing animals such as reindeer or caribou in northern boreal forests (Richardson, 1988)." [IntrotoFun3]
"Cladonia alpestris is the most valua- ble species; Cl. mitis is a close second; and both are found in the more northern ranges. C1. sylvatica is more southern in distribution. C1. rangiferina has a general distribution and usually grows among other species of Cladina. Cl. amaurocraea, C1. gracilis, Cl. uncialis, Cl. verticiUata and others are also eaten by reindeer but generally lack the com- pact habit so valuable for forage plants." (Llano,George 1956)
Ectomycorrhizal: "A.{Amphinema} byssoides has been shown to be ECM (Ingleby et al. 1990; Haug and Pritsch 1992; Raidl 1997). It also appears to be the most widespread taxon, ... and on Pinus sp. from Italy (Bernicchia 1971). Eriksson and Ryvarden (1973) state that A. byssoides is common in boreal forests of the Cladina or Hylocomium type, where it is one of the characteristic fungal species. In contrast to this apparent affinity for rather nutrient-poor habitats, A. byssoides is also commonly found associated with seedlings in nutrient-rich nursery soils (Fassi and Vecchi 1962; Thomas and Jackson 1979; Weiss and Agerer 1988; Danielson and Visser 1990; Grogan et al.I994). Taylor and Brand (1992) reported that A. byssoides ECM increased in abundance in a Picea abies stand following the addition of lime. It was sug- gested that this increase was related to increased nutrient availability and an increase in soil pH." [Cairney EF]
"Cornelissen et al. (2001) studied the interaction between phanerogamous plants and terricolous macrolichens in different arctic tundra and heath ecosystems containing fruti- cose and foliose lichens such as Cladina spp., Cetraria nivalis, Stereocaulon alpinum, and Thamnolia sp. The authors hypothesized that climate warming and increased nutrient availability in the more climatically mild arctic ecosystems, with relatively dense canopies, would result in a decline in macrolichen abundance as a function of increased vascular plant abundance. In contrast, they expected such a relationship to be absent in the more open high-arctic or arctic-alpine plant communities. This hypothesis was clearly supported by data from ecosystem manipulation experiments and with comparisons along natural environmental gradients." [Dighton TFC]