• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Friends of Kananaskis Country

Enhance, protect and share the unique natural and cultural experiences of Kananaskis Country through public participation and environmental education.

Header Right

Donate Join Us Volunteer-Events Calendar
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Vision and Mission
    • The Team
    • The Advisory Council
    • Thanks Volunteers
  • About K-Country
    • Kananaskis Country
    • Trail Maps
    • Trail Reports
    • Bite-Sized Advice
    • Trail & Camping Info
    • Kananaskis Conservation Pass
    • Critters of K-Country
    • Flowers of K-Country
    • Plants of K-Country
    • Fungi of K-Country
  • Programs + Events
    • Trail Care
      • Recruiting Crew Leaders & Backcountry Crew
      • Migratory Birds and the Friends
    • Canmore Trail Alliance
    • Trails Fest
    • Environmental Education
    • Chandra Crawford Hut at CNC
  • Engage
    • Sign Up and Join Us
    • Volunteer
      • Volunteer Projects
    • Corporate & Group Trail Days
    • Trail Day – What to Bring & Expect
    • Volunteer Agreement, Release and Waiver of Liability Form
    • Trail Groups and Clubs
  • Library
    • Latest News
    • Annual Reports
    • Great Kananaskis Flood Book
    • Bylaws & Cooperating Agreement
    • Newsletter
      • 2020 Newsletter Archive
      • 2019 Newsletter Archive
      • 2018 Newsletter Archive
      • 2017 Newsletter Archive
      • 2016 Newsletter Archive
      • 2015 Newsletter Archive
      • 2014 Newsletter Archive
      • 2013 Newsletter Archive
      • 2012 Newsletter Archive
      • 1997 – 2008 Newsletter Archive
    • Policies
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Legacy Fund
      • Legacy Fund FAQs
    • Planned Giving
    • Trail Love Give Back
    • SkipTheDepot
    • Our Supporters
    • Thanks
  • Contact
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Vision and Mission
    • The Team
    • The Advisory Council
    • Thanks Volunteers
  • About K-Country
    • Kananaskis Country
    • Trail Maps
    • Trail Reports
    • Bite-Sized Advice
    • Trail & Camping Info
    • Kananaskis Conservation Pass
    • Critters of K-Country
    • Flowers of K-Country
    • Plants of K-Country
    • Fungi of K-Country
  • Programs + Events
    • Trail Care
      • Recruiting Crew Leaders & Backcountry Crew
      • Migratory Birds and the Friends
    • Canmore Trail Alliance
    • Trails Fest
    • Environmental Education
    • Chandra Crawford Hut at CNC
  • Engage
    • Sign Up and Join Us
    • Volunteer
      • Volunteer Projects
    • Corporate & Group Trail Days
    • Trail Day – What to Bring & Expect
    • Volunteer Agreement, Release and Waiver of Liability Form
    • Trail Groups and Clubs
  • Library
    • Latest News
    • Annual Reports
    • Great Kananaskis Flood Book
    • Bylaws & Cooperating Agreement
    • Newsletter
      • 2020 Newsletter Archive
      • 2019 Newsletter Archive
      • 2018 Newsletter Archive
      • 2017 Newsletter Archive
      • 2016 Newsletter Archive
      • 2015 Newsletter Archive
      • 2014 Newsletter Archive
      • 2013 Newsletter Archive
      • 2012 Newsletter Archive
      • 1997 – 2008 Newsletter Archive
    • Policies
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Legacy Fund
      • Legacy Fund FAQs
    • Planned Giving
    • Trail Love Give Back
    • SkipTheDepot
    • Our Supporters
    • Thanks
  • Contact

Wolf Lichen

Wolf Lichen

It’s an iridescent green, so almost glows in the dark in the forest. Wolf Lichen is easy to find, identify and see all year round. It’s particularly fond of dry wood that has no bark, and really likes Douglas Fir trees.

Not that we recommend eating any plants in K-Country, but this one really needs to be avoided. It’s rich in vulpinic acid, which is bright yellow and gives Wolf Lichen it’s colour. That makes it toxic to any meat-eating mammal, and insects as well. Interestingly, it is not toxic to mice nor hares, and like most lichens, is eaten by ungulates such as deer and elk.

We humans took advantage of Wolf Lichen’s toxicity in olden times. In Northern Europe in the late 1750’s, this lichen was used to poison wolves, which is how it got it’s name. It would be mixed with ground up glass or blood, or with animal fat and nails, with deadly results to wolves and foxes. It’s Latin name Letharia vulpina literally translates as “Deadly to foxes”.

Indigenous people took advantage of Wolf Lichen to make dyes to colour clothes, and also to make face paints. Some central US tribes used it to make a poultice for swelling, bruising & bleeding.

Unlike Usnea or Bryoria, Wolf Lichen doesn’t tend to grow very big, so is seen as small and possibly numerous tufts. It is very tolerant of cold temperatures. Like all lichens, it has an outer fungus and inner algae that live in symbiosis. The fungal exterior of Wolf Lichen can rapidly create conditions conducive to algal activity literally within minutes of being exposed to sunshine or warmth, and can do so at sub-zero temperatures. 

Meet more of the fascinating lichens and fungi of K-Country here!

L ->R: Wolf, Bryoria & Usnea Lichens

Footer

Contact Us

email: info@kananaskis.org
Phone: 403.678.5593
Mail Address:
Suite 201, 800 Railway Ave.
Canmore, Alberta
T1W 1P1

Search Website

You can also find us on

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
Donate Join Us Volunteer Calendar

Copyright © 2023 · developed by Artmann Comm on Genesis Framework