Bearberries are three species of dwarf shrubs in the genus Arctostaphylos. Unlike the other species of Arctostaphylos, they are adapted to Arctic and subarctic climates, and have a circumpolar distribution in northern North America, Asia and Europe.
Cladonia rangiferina, also known as reindeer cup lichen, reindeer lichen or grey reindeer lichen, is a light-colored fruticose, cup lichen species in the family Cladoniaceae. It grows in both hot and cold climates in well-drained, open environments. Found primarily in areas of alpine tundra, it is extremely cold-hardy.
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi is a plant species of the genus Arctostaphylos widely distributed across circumboreal regions of the subarctic Northern Hemisphere. Kinnikinnick is a common name in Canada and the United States. Growing up to 30 centimetres in height, the leaves are evergreen. The flowers are white to pink and the fruit is a red berry.
Lichenin, also known as lichenan or moss starch, is a complex glucan occurring in certain species of lichens. It can be extracted from Cetraria islandica. It has been studied since about 1957.
Kristín Ingólfsdóttir is an Icelandic pharmaceutical scientist and former president and rector of the University of Iceland. She served two terms from 2005 to 2015 and was the first woman to hold office in the university's 100-year history. She succeeded Páll Skúlason.
Ethnolichenology is the study of the relationship between lichens and people. Lichens have and are being used for many different purposes by human cultures across the world. The most common human use of lichens is for dye, but they have also been used for medicine, food and other purposes.
Bryoria fremontii is a dark brown, horsehair lichen that grows hanging from trees in western North America, and northern Europe and Asia. It grows abundantly in some areas, and is an important traditional food for a few First Nations in North America.
Edible lichens are lichens that have a cultural history of use as a food. Although almost all lichen are edible, not all have a cultural history of usage as an edible lichen. Often lichens are merely famine foods eaten in times of dire needs, but in some cultures lichens are a staple food or even a delicacy.
Peltigera aphthosa is a species of lichen known by the common names green dog lichen, leafy lichen, felt lichen, and common freckle pelt. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring throughout the Arctic, boreal, and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
Cetraria aculeata or the spiny Iceland lichen is a dark brown to black fruticose, soil Iceland lichen from the family Parmeliaceae. The species was first described by German naturalist Johann Christian Daniel Edler von Schreber in 1771 under the name of Lichen aculeatus. Later on, Erik Acharius, the "father of lichenology" gave it a name of Cornicularia aculeata, which lately has been changed to Coelocaulon aculeatum. Finally, the taxonomic revision of Ingvar Kärnefelt and colleagues assigned the species to the genus Cetraria.
The wildlife of Iceland is the wild plant and animal life found on the island of Iceland, located in the north Atlantic Ocean just south of the Arctic Circle. The flora, fauna, and funga is limited by the geography and climate of the island. The habitats on the island include high mountains, lava fields, tundras, rivers, lakes and a coastal plain of varying width. There is a long coastline, much dissected by fjords, especially in the west, north and east, with many offshore islets.
Isolichenan, also known as isolichenin, is a cold-water-soluble α-glucan occurring in certain species of lichens. This lichen product was first isolated as a component of an extract of Iceland moss in 1813, along with lichenin. After further analysis and characterization of the individual components of the extract, isolichenan was named in 1881. It is the first α-glucan to be described from lichens. The presence of isolichenan in the cell walls is a defining characteristic in several genera of the lichen family Parmeliaceae. Although most prevalent in that family, it has also been isolated from members of the families Ramalinaceae, Stereocaulaceae, Roccellaceae, and Cladoniaceae. Experimental studies have shown that isolichenan is produced only when the two lichen components – fungus and alga – are growing together, not when grown separately. The biological function of isolichenan in the lichen thallus is unknown.
Koenigia islandica is a species of annual flowering plant in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae and is the type species of the genus Koenigia. It is a very small plant and is found growing on wet gravel and scree in arctic tundra and alpine meadows.
Allocetraria corrugata is a species of foliose lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It is found in high-elevation locations in Yunnan, China, where it grows on rocks with mosses.
Candelariella aggregata is a species of lichen in the family Candelariaceae. It is found in western North America, Mongolia, and Switzerland where it grows on mosses and plant debris.
Clypeococcum bisporum is a species of lichenicolous (lichen-eating) fungus in the family Polycoccaceae. It is found in the Russian Far East, in Mongolia, and from northwest Alaska, where it grows parasitically on lichens from the genera Cetraria and Flavocetraria.
Neoechinodiscus kozhevnikovii is a species of lichenicolous (lichen-eating) fungus in the order Helotiales. It is known to occur in Russia, Austria, and Switzerland, where it grows parasitically on lichens in genus Cetraria.
Cetraria laevigata is a species of ground-dwelling, fruticose (bushy) lichen in the family Parmeliaceae. It was formally described as a new species by Russian lichenologist Kseniya Aleksandrovna Rassadina in 1943. In North America, it is commonly known as the striped Iceland lichen.
Protothelenella is a genus of fungi in the family Protothelenellaceae. It contains 11 species, some of which form lichens. Protothelenella species have a crustose thallus with spherical to pear-shaped, dark brown to blackish perithecia. Microscopic characteristics of the genus include bitunicate asci with an amyloid tholus, and ascospores that are colourless and contain multiple internal partitions. Some species grow on acidic substrates including rocks, soil, bryophytes, plant detritus or rotten wood. Other species are lichenicolous (lichen-dwelling), growing on species of Solorina, Peltigera, Pseudocyphellaria, or Cladonia.
Cladonia islandica is a species of fruticose lichen in the family Cladoniaceae. It is endemic to Iceland, where it grows on moss-covered rocks and stone walls. The lichen was described as a new species in 2009 by Hördur Kristinsson and Teuvo Ahti. The type specimen was collected by the first author from Herdisarvik, Árnessýsla in 1978. It has been collected from various locations around Iceland, but is most common around the lake Mývatn. It contains fumarprotocetraric acid as its main lichen product, and trace amounts of protocetraric acid and confumarprotocetraric acid
Engraving from the 18th-century botanical work Flora Danica
Specimen in Austria
Sarntaler Alpen, Italy
Zillertaler Alpen, Italy
Growing in a mat, Uppland, Sweden
Tablets containing C. islandica used as a dry cough remedy
