Beard lichen growing dense

Very little that lives on earth isn’t eaten by something. This beard lichen sometimes presenting dense masses of pendulous strands is no exception, eaten by various animals in the wild, from caribou to invertebrates.

It is sometimes also collected by people as farm animal fodder. As with so many plants and plant-like entities, medicinal uses for a variety of conditions have also been tried using beard lichen. Orange and other dyes have been produced from some Usnea species. Members of the genus have been involved in the manufacturing of deodorants and cosmetics (www.britannica.com; www.woodlandtrust.org.uk; www.fs.fed.us; Wikipedia).