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.
Name The species is currently classified as Bryoria fremontii, although it is sometimes identified by the older classification of Alectoria jubata.Crawford, S. 2007. Ethnolichenology of Bryoria fremontii: Wisdom of elders, population ecology, and nutritional chemistry. M.Sc. thesis, Interdisciplinary Studies: University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, CanadaBrodo, I. M. and D. L. Hawksworth. 1977. Alectoria and allied genera in North America. Opera Botanica 42: 1-164. Several different English names have been used for this lichen including black moss,Mourning Dove. 1933. How Coyote happened to make the black moss food. Coyote Stories. Caldwell, Idaho, Caxton Printers, Ltd.: 119-125. black tree lichenTurner, N. J. 1977. Economic importance of black tree lichen (Bryoria fremontii) to the Indians of western North America. Economic Botany 31: 461-470 and edible horsehair lichen.Brodo, I. M., S. D. Sharnoff and S. Sharnoff. 2001. Lichens of North America. New Haven, Yale University Press There are names for this lichen in at least 20 different indigenous languages in North America. Wila (wee-la) is the Secwepemc language name for the lichen. The Nez Perce name is hóopop and the Sahaptin name is k'ʷɨnč.
Description
Bryoria fremontii, like almost all of the 23 other species of Bryoria found in North America, is a dark brown hair lichen that grow on trees (mostly conifers). Differentiating the different species of Bryoria can be difficult. The simplest characteristic that distinguishes it from the other species of Bryoria is that its main branches grow to be quite thick (greater than 0.4 mm wide), and usually become somewhat flattened, twisted, and wrinkled in older specimens. Other species of Bryoria usually have narrower main branches. It can also grow to be a lot longer than other species of Bryoria, and is the only species in this genus in North America that regularly grows longer than 20 cm (occasionally reaching 90 cm in length). It is often slightly darker in colour than most other species of Bryoria, although there is much variation in this characteristic. Soredia and apothecia are uncommon, but when they are present they are very distinctive, as they are both bright yellow.
Differentiating poisonous specimens
The lichen usually does not contain any secondary lichen substances. However, some specimens are quite high in vulpinic acid. These specimens are often classified as a separate species, Bryoria tortuosa; in 1992, it was posited that they are different morphotypes of the same species,Goward, T. and T. Ahti. 1992. Macrolichens and their zonal distribution in Wells Gray Provincial Park and its vicinity, British Columbia. Annales Botanici Fennici 147: 1-60. but in 2016, it was discovered that the difference is the result of the presence or absence of a basidiomycete as an additional symbiont.Lichens aren't quite what we thought, shocked scientists discover, by Emily Chung, at CBC.ca; published July 21, 2016; retrieved December 30, 2016 Vulpinic acid is both toxic and bright yellow, and, besides making the lichen poisonous, it can also give the lichen a yellowish tint. As a result, although it is usually reddish-brown to dark brown, some specimens can be yellowish-brown or even bright yellow.
All yellowish specimens of this lichen should be considered to be poisonous. However, not all poisonous specimens are distinctly yellow. Often the vulpinic acid is concentrated in the interior of each branch, and is not apparent from the colour of the surface of the lichen. A more reliable characteristic to distinguish the poisonous specimens from the edible ones is that the specimens that contain vulpinic acid usually have abundant, long, yellow pseudocyphellae that twist around the main branches (these require a hand lens to see).
Distribution This species is common in the mountainous areas of western North America, being found throughout most of the interior of British Columbia (less common or absent in the northern third of the province), extending east into the Alberta Rockies, and south into Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, as well as being found in Washington, Oregon, and California. It also grows in EuropeMotyka, J. 1962. Porosty (Lichenes). Flora Polska, Tom. V, Czesc II. Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Botaniki. Warszawa: 1-151. and Russia.Kravchenko, A. V. 2003. Records of the protected species Bryoria fremontii (Parmeliaceae, Ascomycotina) in Arkhangelsk and Vologda regions. Botanicheskii Zhurnal 88(2): 102-104.
Ecology
In North America it is usually found at elevations between 1,200 and 2,300m, and rarely as low as 700m. It grows mainly on conifer trees, although it can be found growing on just about any tree species within its range.
In general, most species of Bryoria prefer drier forests with more open canopies than do the other genera of arboreal hair lichens (like Alectoria, Usnea, and Ramalina). This lichen prefers even drier and more open habitats than most other Bryoria species, and within a forest it is most abundant on the trees and parts of trees that are less shaded. As a result, it is particularly abundant on dead and dying trees; on older, defoliated branches of living trees; and higher up on trees.Goward, T. 1998. Observations on the ecology of the lichen genus Bryoria in high elevation conifer forests. Canadian Field-Naturalist 112(3): 496-501.
Bryoria fremontii can be very abundant in some ecosystems. Researchers have documented up to 3291 kg of arboreal hair lichens (of which this species was a major constituent) per hectare in some areas in the interior of British Columbia.Edwards, R. Y., J. Soos and R. W. Ritcey. 1960. Quantitative observations on epidendric lichens used as food by caribou. Ecology 41(3): 425-431. It contains small amounts of protein (2.5 – 5% dry weightFujikawa, F., K. Hirai, T. Hirayama, T. Toyota, T. Nakamura, T. Nishimaki, T. Yoshikawa, S. Yasuda, S. Nishio, K. Kojitani, T. Nakai, T. Ando, Y. Tsuji, K. Tomisaki, M. Watanabe, M. Fujisawa, M. Nagai, M. Koyama, N. Matsuami, M. Urasaki and M. Takagawa. 1970. On the free amino acids in lichens of Japan. I. Yakugaku Zasshi 90: 1267-1274.Pulliainen, E. 1971. Nutritive values of some lichens used as food by reindeer in north-eastern Lapland. Annales Zoologici Fennici 8: 385-389.) and significant quantities of the lichen carbohydrate lichenin (15 – 35% dry weightYanovsky, E. and R. M. Kingsbury. 1938. Analyses of some Indian food plants. Association of Official Agricultural Chemists 21(4): 648-665.Common, R. S. 1991. The distribution and taxonomic significance of lichenan and isolichenan in the Parmeliaceae (lichenized Ascomycotina), as determined by iodine reactions.1. Introduction and methods.2. The genus Alectoria and associated taxa. Mycotaxon 41(1): 67-112.), which is digestible to some animals.Kirkpatrick, R. C., R. J. Zou, E. S. Dierenfeld and H. W. Zhou. 2001. Digestion of selected foods by Yunnan snub-nosed monkey Rhinopithecus bieti (Colobinae). American Journal of Physical Anthropology 114(2): 156-162. As a result of its abundance and potential nutrition, it can be very important to the ecology of an area. In interior British Colombia's the inland temperate rainforests, Bryoria fremontii reaches its greatest loads in the mid to upper canopy of old-growth conifer stands, where good air flow and stable branch architecture favour long, pendulous thalli. Stand-level "hyperabundance" is seldom achieved in younger forests, typically appearing only about 120–150 years after disturbance. A large share of annual growth is shed as litterfall; fragments lodge on lower branches and, in winter, accumulate on the snow surface. Researchers refer to this sustained, fragment-driven availability of forage as the "manna effect", which helps explain why late-winter diets of deep-snow mountain caribou are dominated by Bryoria species, including B. fremontii.
Bryoria fremontii (along with many other lichens) is significant food source for a variety of different species of ungulates and rodents.Sharnoff, S. 1994. Use of lichens by wildlife in North America. Research & Exploration 10(3): 370-371. In North America it is particularly important for the northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) and the woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou). The northern flying squirrel eats large quantities of the lichen, particularly in the winter, when it is often the only thing that it eats.Rosentreter, R., G. D. Hayward and M. WicklowHoward. 1997. Northern flying squirrel seasonal food habits in the interior conifer forests of central Idaho, USA. Northwest Science 71(2): 97-102. This squirrel also uses it to build its nest.Hayward, G. D. and R. Rosentreter. 1994. Lichens as nesting material for northern flying squirrels in the northern Rocky Mountains. Journal of Mammalogy 75(3): 663-673. During the winter the woodland caribou in British ColumbiaKinley, T. A., J. Bergenske, J. A. Davies and D. Quinn. 2003. Characteristics of early-winter caribou, Rangifer tarandus caribou, feeding sites in the southern Purcell Mountains, British Columbia. Canadian Field-Naturalist 117(3): 352-359. and WashingtonRominger, E. M., C. T. Robbins and M. A. Evans. 1996. Winter foraging ecology of woodland caribou in north-eastern Washington. Journal of Wildlife Management 60(4): 719-728. survives almost entirely on arboreal lichens, and this is one of the species of lichen that it prefers the most.
Uses
Culinary use Like all lichens, Bryoria fremontii stores its energy in polysaccharides which are completely indigestible to humans. Nonetheless, this lichen was, and still is, highly regarded as a food for Salish peoples,Teit, J. A. and F. Boas. 1928. The Salishan tribes of the western plateaus. Forty-Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1927-1928 45: 23-296. such as the Secwepemc, the Shuswap,Teit, J. A. 1909. The Shuswap. American Museum of Natural History Memoir No. 5. New York, NY.Dawson, G. M. 1891. Notes on the Shuswap People of British Columbia. Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, Section 2 Part I: 3-44. the Nlaka'pamux,Teit, J. A. and F. Boas. 1900. The Thompson Indians of British Columbia. American Museum of Natural History Memoir No. 2. the Lillooet,Teit, J. A. 1906. The Lillooet Indians. American Museum of Natural History Memoir No. 4, New York, NY. and the SinkaietkSpier, L., W. B. Cline, R. S. Commons and M. Mandelbaum. 1938. The Sinkaietk or Southern Okanagon of Washington. Contributions from the Laboratory of Anthropology, 2. General Series in Anthropology, No. 6. Menasha, Wisconsin, George Banta Publishing Co. There is a report that among the Flathead of Montana, even the smallest family would harvest over 10 kg of it every July.Turney-High, H. H. 1937. The Flathead Indians of Montana. Memoirs of the American Anthropological Association No. 48Stubbs, R. D. 1966. An investigation of the edible and medicinal plants used by the Flathead Indians. M.A. thesis, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana.Hart, J. 1976. Montana - Native plants and early peoples. Helena, Montana, The Montana Historical Society and The Montana Bicentennial Administration
It is theorised that these peoples may consume the lichen because when it is cooked with other foods, it may capture carbohydrates from these other foods that would otherwise be lost in the fire pit method used to cook it, increasing the carbohydrates by 23 to 122%.