Rock tripe is the common name for various lichens of the genusUmbilicaria that grow on rocks.[1] They are widely distributed, including on bare rock in Antarctica, and throughout northern parts of North America such as New England and the Rocky Mountains. They are edible when properly prepared; soaking extensively and boiling with changes of water removes the bitterness and purgative properties.[2][3] They have been used as a famine food in extreme cases when other food sources were unavailable, as by early American northern explorers.[2]
^Smith, Hayden B.; Dal Grande, Francesco; Muggia, Lucia; Keuler, Rachel; Divakar, Pradeep K.; Grewe, Felix; Schmitt, Imke; Lumbsch, H. Thorsten; Leavitt, Steven D. (2020). "Metagenomic data reveal diverse fungal and algal communities associated with the lichen symbiosis". Symbiosis. 82 (1–2): 133–147. doi:10.1007/s13199-020-00699-4. hdl:11577/3440801.
^ abMcCune, B. (2018). "Two new species in the Umbilicaria torrefacta group from Alaska and the Pacific Northwest of North America". Graphis Scripta. 30 (6): 65–77.
^Davydov, Evgeny A.; Masson, Didier (2022). "Umbilicaria meizospora comb. nov., a south-western European endemic species of the subgenus Papillophora". The Lichenologist. 54 (1): 1–12. doi:10.1017/s0024282921000475. S2CID246828542.
^Davydov, Evgeny A.; Yakovchenko, Lidia S.; Urbanavichene, Irina; Konoreva, Liudmila; Chesnokov, Sergey; Kharpukhaeva, Tatiana; Obermayer, Walter (2020). "Umbilicaria orientalis – a new species of Umbilicaria subg. Papillophora with an East Asian distribution: morphological delimitation and molecular evidence". The Lichenologist. 52 (5): 353–364. doi:10.1017/s0024282920000389. S2CID229051585.