BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA. 
81 
ON THE ECONOMICAL USES OF STICTA PULMONARIA HOFFM. 
By a. T. Drummond, B. A. 
The Lichen which forms the subject of the present paper, I have selected, not 
so much on account of any marked interest that is to be attached to it from the 
beauty of its structure, or the variety of its economical applications, as from its 
being one of the most common Lichens in our vicinity — so common, in fact, and 
so conspicuous from its large, handsome thallus, that it cannot but have attracted 
the notice of many of you. It occurs upon several kinds of trees, among which 
may be mentioned the Oak, Beach, Ash, and Maple, as well as upon rocks in 
moist situations. Saxicolous specimens, however, although sometimes very large, 
are generally sterile. Its geographical range is not very great when compared 
with some others of our Lichens, which are almost cosmopolites. Yet, besides 
occurring in Canada, it has been found in India upon the Himalayas, in Siberia, 
Britain, Sweden, Norway, France and Germany. Small and delicate as this Lichen 
is, when compared with the " time-stained " trunks upon which it flourishes, yet 
it is known to attain a very great age, one author stating that, after the lapse of 
upwards of fifty years, he had, upon the same tree, noticed the same specimen of 
Sticta pulmonaria, in precisely the same position. 
It would be altogether foreign to the object of this paper to enter minutely 
into the distinctive characters of this Lichen ; suffice it to say that it may be easily 
recognized from other species of the same genus, as well as from other Lichens ge- 
nerally, by its greenish or olive-colored thallus, which is reticulately pitted in a very 
perceptible manner, and frequently roughened by pale soredia ; by the under sur- 
face being marked by gibbi, or discolored spots ; and by the lacinse or marginal 
segments of the thallus being broad, elongated, and very abruptly terminated. 
When moist, it is of a more or less vivid hue, which, on drying, changes to olive 
brown. 
In treating of the economical uses of Sticta pulmonaria, I purpose making the 
following divisions, viz., first, its use as an article of food ; secondly, its employ- 
ment as a medicine ; and thirdly, its applications in the arts. First, then, in regard 
to its use as an article of food. There is a marked resemblance in properties 
u 
