Dictionary

usnea en · NOUN

Etymology

Borrowed from translingual Usnea, from Arabic أُشْنَة (ʔušna, “moss”).

Meanings

1. Any lichen of the genus Usnea.
   • In Latin the various species of usnea are called Usnea barbata, U. longissima, U. hirta, U. florida, U. ceratina, and U. dasypoga. Because of its appearance the common name for usnea is Old Man's Beard. The Dakota called usnea Chan wiziye. 2006, Stephen Harrod Buhner, Sacred Plant Medicine: The Wisdom in Native American Herbalism, page 133:
   • The plantlike result of a symbiotic association between algae and fungi, usnea lichen is an important and versatile natural medicine that demands a place in these pages. 1997, Gregory L. Tilford, Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West, page 148:
   • Another powerful herb with antibiotic, antiviral, and antibacterial properties, usnea is used internally or externally against bacterial, fungal, or viral infections. Usnea is often combined with spilanthes or echinacea. 2008, Matthew Stein, When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency, Revised edition, page 256:

Forms

Deriveds

usneoid

Synonyms

old man's beard

Translations (4)

bg брада́т ли́шей (lichen of the genus Usnea) · bg у́снеа (lichen of the genus Usnea) · fr usnée (lichen of the genus Usnea) · aht datsʼiisi dadyuutsʼi (lichen of the genus Usnea)