Winter is a great time to harvest Barba de Viejo (Usnea). There are several Usnea species in New Mexico which can be used interchangeably. We usually harvest Usnea cavernosa as it grows in abundance nearby, but we try to make it a point to gather Usnea from downed tree branches.
This special lichen has immuno-stimulating, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-bacterial, analgesic, and anti-fungal properties. Keep in mind though that one of its main active constituents for many of these properties is usnic acid which is not water soluble, meaning you need to take Usnea in tincture form to benefit from these properties.
Usnic acid has been shown to have antipyretic, antibacterial, anti fungal, and analgesic properties. So for example: if you have a respiratory infection, an Usnea infusion/tea won’t deliver usnic acid which is responsible for those important medicinal effects that work against bacterial and fungal infections, relieve body aches, and lower a fever. However, it does have valuable uses that aren’t tied to its usnic acid content. Traditionally (pre-tinctures) Usnea was prepared as a tea/infusion by our Indigenous people — so it’s likely that those uses were for its anti-inflammatory and immuno-stimulating properties due to its polysaccharide content (which *are* water soluble). An infusion/tea is also great for things like a mouth rinse, gargle, compress, etc. — it’s a very useful topical remedy!
Because Usnea is so lightweight, it can be challenging to extract a strong concentrated tincture through typical maceration practices. So we use our Soxhlet extractor to create Usnea tincture. A Soxhlet is a special type of still that can be used to quickly create extractions through cyclic percolation in a closed system. This is a great method to create tinctures for certain remedios that are best extracted using heated alcohol – examples include Usnea and Cannabis. You don’t need a Soxhlet to do this though — you can simply heat your solvent on a hot pad or electric stove and pour it over the Usnea. Just don’t use a gas stove (unless you want to be nominated for a Darwin Award!).
Usnea is really helpful for infections, particularly respiratory infections and UTIs. It’s good to have on hand for high fevers too. Often with fever you want to use diaphoretics (like yarrow) which helps you sweat out the heat caused by a fever. But when your temp starts to creep up too high or lasts too long, Usnea is a really effective antipyretic that provides relief by suppressing fever, much like how Tylenol does. You can purchase a bottle of Usnea tincture in our online shop.