Years ago, I taught Hannah Prather at Siskiyou Field Institute in several lichen classes. She has continued work in lichens around Portland, and now has a temporary job at Reed, teaching Reed's first lichenology class,  LICHENS of the Pacific Northwest! She asked me to come and dye lichens with her students. One group was so excited about the dyes that they crocheted lichens with their dyed yarn.

Look at the photo 167448611#photo and see if you can identify the lichens they portray! The orange and black are not lichen dyed, though I see a bit of yellow that could be from Letharia. The brown color is actually more purple and is from Umbilicaria, the greenish is more blueish and is from Evernia.

The crochet artists are Cadence Price and Natalie Santoro.

In BC Canada, some First Nations people's reports of traditional use of lichens used as dyes, Lobaria pulmonaria for example, include a request not to use lichens any more due to the need for large amounts to produce small amounts of dye...not recognized as conservation friendly