Iceland moss

Cetraria islandica

In the old days, lichens were dried and ground into flour. Such flour could be mixed with other types of flour and used for baking bread or blood sausages, or added to soup.

The Iceland moss is ciliate and branched like antlers. The colour varies from greenish grey to dark brown. The lichen reproduces from fragments of its thalluses and by producing spores. The Iceland moss grows in forests and highland heaths and on rocks. It contains vitamin C, protein and carbohydrates. If you want to collect the moss for food, be careful, as lichens accumulate heavy metals.