Bryoria fremontii
Wila, Black Moss, Black Tree Beard, Black Tree Lichen, Edible Horsehair Lichen, Fremont's Horsehair Lichen, Tree Hair
How do I possibly encompass everything that B. fremontii is in a single post? It's impossible. I will try my best.
This caespitose-fruticose lichen has a long, brown, pendant thallus made up of thin, brown, many-branching filaments. It can grow in thick tufts up to 90 cm long! It can vary a lot in color, texture, and the number of Pseudocyphellae and soralia dotting the surface. These differences led to B. fremontii being split into multiple species, but genetic testing and extensive microscopic examination revealed that these differences may be due to the presence/absence of specific yeast strains within the thallus! Cool, right? B. fremontii is also incredibly culturally significant to the First Nations people of western North America, and has historically been used as food, medicine, bandage material, building material, diapers, dyes, fiber, and much more! It has also historically been used in norther Europe as food, fodder, tinder, and an alcohol additive. Be warned, however, if this has you thinking about going out and eating some right now: certain chemotypes with a yellow tinge contain toxic vulpinic acid, which is bad for you.
B. fremontii is native to the northern hemisphere, where it grows on trees (typically conifers) in cold, dry, montane forests. It doesn't tolerate being covered in snow, and so usually grows high-up on exposed tree branches. For myself, when I started studying lichens, B. fremontii was one that I distinctly remembered from childhood adventure spent in the mountains of eastern Idaho. Back then I just thought that the trees grew whiskers sometimes. When I learned about Ents I was like yeah, makes sense.
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