WILDCRAFTED USNEA LICHEN ELIXIR

Usnea (Usnea spp.) is not a plant, not a fungus, not an alga—it is all three simultaneously. A lichen is a composite organism: a fungus and a photosynthetic partner (algae or cyanobacteria) living in such intimate symbiosis that they function as a single being. Usnea grows on the bark of trees in old-growth forests, hanging in long grey-green threads, and has been used as medicine across cultures for thousands of years—in Chinese medicine, in European herbalism, in indigenous North American practice.

Its primary active constituent is usnic acid, one of the most potent naturally occurring antimicrobials known. Usnea is strongly active against gram-positive bacteria—including Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis—while leaving gram-negative bacteria and the body's own beneficial flora largely unaffected. This selectivity is clinically significant: it means Usnea can address infection without the collateral disruption that broad-spectrum antimicrobials cause.

Beyond its antimicrobial action, Usnea is antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and has a particular affinity for the respiratory and urinary tracts—two systems where infection and chronic irritation are common and where conventional options are increasingly limited by resistance.

It is also deeply immune-supportive, with polysaccharides that stimulate immune activity in a manner similar to other medicinal fungi.

What it supports:

• Bacterial and fungal infection, particularly in the respiratory and urinary tracts
• Immune modulation and resilience
• Chronic respiratory conditions and lung health
• Anti-inflammatory activity, systemically and locally
• Wound healing and tissue integrity

Small-batch. Wildcrafted. Triple-extracted. Made with reverence by a folk herbalist and Doctor of Naturopathy student.