Sticta pulmonaria (Hook)
Synonyms: Lobaria pulmonaria (L.), Sticta pulmonacea (Ach.), lungmoss, oak lungs, tree lungwort
Order: Stictaceae
Description: Sticta is a lichen with a wide leafy thallus, divided and apparently cut off at the ends, with wavy margins, green-brown, the surface in dips and ridges, the underside with variegated colouring reflecting the contours. It is found throughout Europe and grows on oak bark and more rarely on heather stems and mossy rocks.
Parts used: dried thallus
Collection:
Constituents: stictic, sticinic, norstitic, gyrophoric, thelophoric and related acids; fatty acids (including palmitic, oleic and linoleic acids), mucilage (including arabitol), tannins, proteins, sterols (ergosterol, fucosterol)
Actions: astringent, pulmonary demulcent, expectorant, mucolytic, orexigenic.
Indications: bronchitis, asthma
Therapeutics and Pharmacology: This remedy is applicable to irritable respiratory conditions, such as bronchitis and asthma, and is specifically indicated in children's coughs. It is locally healing and soothing. It has recently been found that the lungwort lichens contain antibiotic chemicals that are effective against the kind of bacteria that cause tuberculosis and many other chest infections.
Combinations: Sticta may be combined with Tussilago, Lobelia and Marrubium in bronchitis.
Preparation and Dosage: (thrice daily)
Dried lichen: 1-2g or by infusion
Liquid Extract: 1:1 in 25% alcohol, 1-2ml
Additional Comments: The Doctrine of Signatures decreed that the lungwort lichens were suitable for chest disorders on the grounds of their pouched, lung-like appearance. Lungwort herb (Pulmonaria officinalis L.) of the borage family, with its characteristically variegated leaves, and two to three blue-coloured flowers, has many of the same uses, although it is more astringent in character and has an extra anticatarrhal action.
Bibliography
BHMA 1983 British Herbal Pharmacopoeia, BHMA, Bournemouth.
Hoffmann, D. 1990 The New Holistic Herbal, Second Edition, Element, Shaftesbury.
Mabey, R. (ed.) 1991 The Complete New Herbal, Penguin, London.
Mills, S.Y. 1993 The A-Z of Modern Herbalism, Diamond Books, London.
Weiss, R.F. 1991 Herbal Medicine, Beaconsfield Arcanum, Beaconsfield.
Wren, R.C. 1988 Potter's New Cyclopaedia of Botanical Drugs and Preparations, C.W.Daniel, Saffron Walden.
