Usnea, Breath of Fresh Air
When we settled into the Earthly Abundance homestead, I noticed this bright, sea foam green plant material hung in airy clumps, like fairy tinsel on the bare branches of the woods around us. It stands out on the dark tree bark, after the first good rain of autumn and most the leaves are gone.
The forest is full of magic and beauty, this was just another part of it, perhaps something I might use in my custom made fairy gardens and desktop beachscapes. The deer were sure quick to consume it, practically inhaling it and I decided to learn more about this stringy, beard-like material.
It’s called usnea, and is also referred to as old man’s beard or, lungs of the forest, as it resembles lungs! And! It turns out… it’s an old, old PLANT MEDICINE, made into a tea or tincture, it’s been noted in old folk remedy books to be helpful for respiratory support.
A pen pal in the midwest noted she was trying to source really good quality usnea to make a winter respiratory salve and bronchial support tincture but hadn’t located anything yet. They didn’t want plant material that was growing next to the road and I mentioned I had recently discovered sacred usnea around our 2 1/2 acre, very rural, old growth forest homestead. They offered an energy exchange and I shipped fresh, clean, pure, dried usnea right to their doorstep.
While usnea grows abundantly here, we consciously choose to gather only what we need for our homestead and feel guided to offer to others reviving old folk remedies. I am delighted to invite you to browse our premium quality, usnea and our other wild-harvested by us plant material in our Earthly Abundance Shop and also our imperfect, lower grade usnea that’s perfect for crafts like fairy gardens and decorative wreaths.
Have you worked with usnea before? What did you make and how did it turn out? Share in the comments below!
Cheers to our collective well-being-ness! xoxo