Cladonia pyxidata
Any one with a lick of sense knows that these pixie cups were used by the pixies or wood fairies to sip their morning dew ... their elixir instead of coffee.
Joking aside, the Pixie Cup is a lichen that could be eaten if one were desperate and needed something to put in an empty stomach. It contains didymic acid and was once gathered to use as a treatment for tuberculosis. Eskimos apparently used Pixie cups as wicks in their blubber oil lamps. The lichens would be floated in the oil and then lit. The oil would burn off of the lichen and continually be replaced, allowing the lichen to remain as a useful wick for quite some time.
Cladonia borealis (??)
2007 October 2
2007 October 2
1 comment:
Hi Cicero, I had not been joining you on your, 'walk through the Cariboo', lately. And was happy to see so many beautiful photos.
Thanks for this Pixie cup, I have a photo of one in October, but I think your guess about the name is the better one.
Mackinnon and crew state that there are a dozen species with red fruits in B.C.
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