Iceland Moss

Iceland Moss (Cetraria islandica), a lichen found in all the northern parts of the world, and valuable on account of its nutritious and medicinal properties. It is collected as an article of commerce in Norway and Iceland. In very northern regions it grows even near the level of the sea; in more southern countries it is found on mountains. It is not uncommon in the mountainous parts of Britain, although not turned to any economic account. In Carniola it is used for fattening cattle and pigs. It grows in extreme abundance in Iceland on tracts otherwise desert; and numerous parties migrate from great distances with horses, tents, and provisions, in the summer months, for the sole purpose of gathering it as an article of commerce and for food. In many places this lichen thickly covers the whole surface of the ground, growing about 1½-4 inches high, and consists of an almost erect Thallus (q.v.). It is of a leathery and somewhat cartilaginous substance. When Iceland moss is used as an article of food its bitterness is first partially removed by steeping in water, after which, in Iceland and other northern countries, it is sometimes pounded and made into bread; or it is prepared by boiling, the first water being rejected. It is often boiled with milk, making a kind of jelly, either with milk or water. It is an agreeable article of food, and very suitable for invalids. It contains about 80 per cent. of a kind of starch called Lichen Starch, or Lichenin, and owes its bitterness to an acid principle, Cetraric Acid.—An allied species, Cetraria nivalis, growing in northern countries, possesses similar properties.