LICHENS AS FOOD 403 



Iso-lichenin is much less abundant and resembles soluble starch, but on 

 digestion yields only dextrins no sugar. It may be concluded, judging 

 from the chemical nature of the mucilage, from the resistance of its con- 

 stituents to digestion and from the small amount present in the jelly, that 

 its nutritive value is practically nil 1 . 



It has been stated that " reindeer moss " in times of food scarcity is 

 powdered and mixed with "Iceland moss" and rye to make bread in North 

 Finland. Johnson confirms this and cites the evidence of a Dr Clarke that: 

 " to our surprise we found we might eat of it with as much ease as of the 

 heart of a fine lettuce. It tasted like wheat-bran, but after swallowing it, 

 there remained in the throat and upon the palate a gentle heat, or sense of 

 burning, as if a small quantity of pepper had been mixed with the lichen." 



The Egyptians 2 have used Evernia prunastri, more rarely E. furfuracea, 

 in baking. In the eighteenth century fermentative agents such as yeast 

 were unknown to them, and these lichens, which were imported from more 

 northern lands, were soaked in water for two hours and the solution then 

 mixed with the flour to give a much appreciated flavour to the unleavened 

 bread. 



In India 3 a species of Parmelia (near to P. perlatd) known in the Telegu 

 language as "rathapu" or rock-flower has been used as a food, generally 

 prepared as a curry, by the natives in the Bellary district (Madras Presidency), 

 and is esteemed as a delicacy. It is also used medicinally. The collecting 

 of rathapu is carried on during the hot weather in April and May, and forms 

 a profitable business. 



A note has been published by Calkins 4 , on the authority of a correspondent 

 in Japan, that large quantities of Endocarpon (Dennatocarpori) miniatum 

 (Fig. 56) are collected in the mountains of that country for culinary purposes, 

 and largely exported to China as an article of luxury. The local name is 

 "iwataka," meaning stone-mushroom. Properly prepared it resembles tripe. 

 It is possibly the same lichen under a different name, Gyrophora esculenta, 

 which is described by Manabu Miyoshi 5 as of great food value in Japan 

 where it is known as "iwatake." It is a greyish-brown leathery "mono- 

 phyllous" plant of somewhat circular outline and fairly large size, measuring 

 3 to 1 3 cm. across. Fertile specimens are rare, and are smaller than the 

 sterile. It grows generally on the steep declivities of damp granitic rocks and 

 is common in various districts of Japan, being especially abundant on such 

 mountains as Kiso, Nikko, Kimano, etc. The face of the precipices is often 

 thickly covered with the lichen growth. The inhabitants collect the plants 

 in large quantities. They dry them and send them to the towns, where they 

 are sold in all vegetable stores; some are even exported to other countries. 



1 Hutchinson 1916. 2 Forskal 1875, p. 193. 3 Watt 1890. 4 Calkins 1892. 



5 Miyoshi 1893. 



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