Talk:Usnea

hi, i changed 'so much so that the moss's Latin name' to 'so much so that the plant's Latin name' in the first section because the article on spanish moss says that the epiphyte is not a moss but an angiosperm. -- andye

Since I was not immediately clear which plant was being talked about changed it to 'Spanish Moss' I have a christmas card that tells of Usnia longissima. It lives across norhtern Eurasia from Siberia to Oslo on Alies siberica and Picea abies. It is much longer than 20cm and is thought to be the origin of tinsel on Christmas Trees. Unfortunately there are no details and nothing to verify.IceDragon64 16:31, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Uncited content
I moved the following uncited paragraph to the talk page until citations to verify each statement can me found.


 * Usnea lichen is important to note because it has life-saving potential. Native Americans employed it as a compress to severe battle wounds to prevent infection and gangrene, and it was also taken internally to fight infections.   Usnea contains potent antibiotics which can halt infection and are broad spectrum and effective against all gram-positive and tuberculosis bacterial species.  Usnea has several unique characteristics which make its identification easy if stranded in the wilderness far from a hospital.   Usnea lichens can be easily identified by pulling back the outer sheath on the main stem.  Usnea lichens have an elastic pure white cord running through the center of the main stem.  Lichen species which resemble Usnea do not have this white cord, and appear grey-green throughout.  Usnea lichens do not change color throughout the growing season as do lichen species which closely resemble Usnea.

Phoenixred (talk) 18:33, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

Unreliable NonWP:MEDRS source
Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West by Gregory L. Tilford is used as a source for medical claims. So are other "Healing and Cleansing"-type sources. None of which meet WP:MEDRS standards for their medicinal claims. I deleted the non MEDRS content. FloraWilde (talk) 17:58, 1 November 2014 (UTC)

Image of Usnea filipendula appears to be a misidenrification
The image of Usnea filipendula appears to be a misidenrification. FloraWilde (talk) 19:06, 1 November 2014 (UTC)