Subject: _Umbilicaria_ lichen as food

From: [email-masked] (Mark Thorson)
Date: Tue, 16 Apr 1996 01:31:34 GMT

I've read that the Japanese eat _Umbilicaria_ lichen (also known
as "rock tripe") as a highly prized delicacy.  Can someone tell
me the Japanese name for this food, and what it tastes like?
Is it reputed to have any medicinal properties?  Is it grown
commercially, or is it collected from Nature?

---

From: [email-masked] (Jem)
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 1996 12:25:31 GMT

>commercially, or is it collected from Nature?

I'm sorry I don't know the answer to this question. But I do have one
of my own...

Does the word Umbilicaria relate at all to _umbilicus_?  I would
dearly love to know.

Umbilicus is the name of my site devoted to belly-buttons:
http://www.thehub.com.au/~jarami/

Jeremy Mawson

---

From: Diane_M Greene <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 18 Apr 1996 21:46:25 -0700

Yes Umbillicaria is used for food, not just by the Japanese.
It cannot yet be grown commercially, or cultivated in any way as far as I 
know.
Very little is published about it.
and yes it is recognized in part by the "umbilicus" by which it attaches 
to the substrate.