Cladonia rangiferina

Other Names

arctic mosscaribou mossChrobotek reniferowyCladina rangiferinaCladina rangiferina (L.) Nyl.Cladonia rangiferina (L.) F.H.Wigg.Cladonia rangiferina (L.) Weber ex F.H.Wigg.deer mossdutohlávka sobíElninė šiurėGrå reinlavgrå renlavGrákrókargray reindeer lichengrey reindeer lichenHarilik põdrasamblikharmaaporonjäkäläLichen rangiferinusNiqaaqpravi jelenovecreindeer cup lichenreindeer lichenreindeer mossRendiartmööskRengeyiği likenirenlavRentierflechtetrue reindeer lichenvalódi rénzuzmóкладонія оленячаКладония оленьяЯгельハナゴケ鹿蕊

Synopsis

Cladonia rangiferina (Grey Reindeer Lichen)

1. Identity, Taxonomy, and Natural Source

Nomenclature and Classification

Cladonia rangiferina, also known as reindeer cup lichen, is a light-coloured fruticose, cup lichen species in the family Cladoniaceae. Other common names include reindeer moss, deer moss, and caribou moss, but these names can be misleading since it is, though somewhat moss-like in appearance, not a moss. Synonyms include Cladina rangiferina and Lichen rangiferinus.

Cladonia rangiferina was first scientifically described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1753 Species Plantarum; as was the custom at the time, he classified it in the eponymous genus, as Lichen rangiferinus. Friedrich Heinrich Wiggers transferred it to the genus Cladonia in 1780.

As a lichen, Cladonia rangiferina is not a plant, moss, or fungus in the strict sense, but rather a composite organism. Lichens are a mix of at least two different organisms, a fungus and alga, living together as one. The fungal mutualist may belong to one of over 500 genera and over 13,500 species of lichen-forming fungi — about 20% of known fungal species. Within lichen taxonomy, the family Cladoniaceae belongs to the broader order Lecanorales, which includes numerous cup-forming lichens that display remarkable morphological diversity.

Morphology and Distribution

Podetia are 4–10 cm tall, grey-white, the upper part often brown with a ± purple or bluish grey tinge towards the apices; the surface is uniformly decorticate and finely cottony-arachnoid, richly branched; terminal branches are recurved, distinctly orientated in one direction, with branching predominantly tetrachotomous at the apices.

It grows in both hot and cold climates in well-drained, open environments. Found primarily in areas of alpine tundra, it is extremely cold-hardy. Reindeer lichen, like many lichens, is slow growing (3–5 mm per year) and may take decades to return once overgrazed, burned, trampled, or otherwise consumed.

A similar-looking but distinct species, also known by the common name "reindeer lichen", is Cladonia portentosa. Care must therefore be taken when sourcing or identifying the species in wild-harvested or commercial preparations.

In certain parts of its range, this lichen is an endangered species. For example, in the British Duchy of Cornwall it is protected under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.

Common Forms and Preparations

Cladonia rangiferina is edible, but crunchy. It can be soaked with wood ashes to remove its bitterness, then added to milk or other dishes. The Inland Dena'ina used reindeer lichen for food by crushing the dry lichen and then boiling it or soaking it in hot water until it becomes soft.

In contemporary use, the lichen appears in several forms: dried whole thalli; aqueous decoctions and infusions; ethanolic or acetone extracts (used predominantly in laboratory and pharmacological research); and standardised liquid or powdered extracts incorporated into dietary supplement formulations. It is a source of vitamin D. This lichen can also be used in the making of aquavit.

2. Traditional and Historical Use

Circumpolar Indigenous Cultures

For centuries, the Sámi and other circumpolar cultures have relied on this resilient lichen, not only as a vital winter food source for reindeer but also for its valuable healing properties. Traditionally, decoctions and infusions made from Cladonia rangiferina were used as remedies for chest ailments, coughs, and colds. The lichen was also applied topically to treat wounds, burns, and skin irritations.

In the Great Lakes region of North America, newborn babies were bathed in water that had previously been boiled with the lichen C. rangiferina.

Asian Traditional Medicine

The dendritic part of Cladina rangiferina, known as "SHIRUI" or "LURUI" in Chinese, has been used in medicinal diets for over 500 years, often eaten as a salad after blanching to treat dysphoria with smothery sensation, throat desiccation, sputum stagnation, blurred vision and dysopia, and jaundice.

It has been used as a traditional natural source in ancient times in India, China, and Sri Lanka. The lichen is used as a traditional remedy for removal of kidney stones by the Monpa in the alpine regions of the West Kameng district of Eastern Himalaya.

Reported Traditional Indications

Cladonia rangiferina was used to cure colds, arthritis, fever, jaundice, constipation, convulsions, cough, and tuberculosis. Lichens and their metabolites have antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiviral, antigenotoxic, anticancer, analgesic, antipyretic, and anti-inflammatory activities, and they are widely used in different types of traditional medicines, such as homeopathy, western medical herbals, traditional Indian, and Chinese medicine. Lichens have a long history of being used in herbal medicine and are believed to effectively treat various issues related to skin, respiratory, digestive, obstetric, and gynecological health.

In folk medicine, Cladonia rangiferina was often combined with other herbs to enhance its curative potential.

3. Key Constituents and Active Compounds

Primary Secondary Metabolites

The main secondary constituents of C. rangiferina are depside atranorin and depsidone fumarprotocetraric acid. A variety of other bioactive compounds have been isolated and identified from C. rangiferina, including abietane, labdane, isopimarane, the abietane diterpenoids hanagokenols A and B, obtuanhydride, sugiol, 5,6-dehydrosugiol, montbretol, cis-communic acid, imbricatolic acid, 15-acetylimbricatoloic acid, junicedric acid, 7α-hydroxysandaracopimaric acid, β-resorylic acid, atronol, barbatic acid, homosekikaic acid, didymic acid and condidymic acid.

The most thoroughly investigated pharmaceutical ingredients in C. rangiferina have been a group of small molecular compounds, including atranorin, fumarprotocetraric acid, and usnic acid.

Usnic Acid

Usnic acid is frequently mentioned in lichen medicine more broadly, but its presence and amount in Cladonia rangiferina can vary by population, environment, and extraction method. Importantly, Cladonia rangiferina was historically reported as not producing usnic acid based on TLC analysis; however, genome sequencing of C. rangiferina reveals a usnic acid gene cluster, and subsequent analysis by LC-MS reveals detectable amounts of usnic acid in C. rangiferina, suggesting that lichen chemotaxonomy may need to be revisited with more sensitive techniques.

Polysaccharides

The first major group of bioactive constituents includes polysaccharides and other water-soluble compounds that can give preparations a soft, coating feel. These compounds help explain why traditional users often reached for reindeer lichen in cases of irritated throat, dry cough, and mild digestive discomfort. Nishikawa et al. first isolated an antitumor polysaccharide CRa-1 from C. rangiferina subsp. grisea in 1974.

Lichenin constitutes the major part of dissolved carbohydrates in some related species but was only present as a trace amount in water extracts of C. rangiferina.

Environmental Influence on Phytochemical Profile

Fumarprotocetraric acid is produced in high yield on alkaline substrates, whereas a dry environment offering hot temperatures and low rainfall favors the production of the depside atranorin. The same lichen species can have distinct metabolites and thus unique chemical fingerprints when collected at different geographical locations, from different environments, and during different seasons.

4. Mechanisms of Action

Antioxidant Mechanisms

Studies have investigated the in vitro antioxidant activities of acetone extracts of Cladonia rangiferina and their atranorin and fumarprotocetraric acid constituents; antioxidant activity has been evaluated by free radical scavenging, superoxide anion radical scavenging, reducing power, and determination of total phenolic and flavonoid compounds. Strong relationships between total phenolic and flavonoid contents and the antioxidant effect of tested extracts have been observed.

Antimicrobial Mechanisms

Some isolated compounds have mild inhibitory activities against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococci. In studies of the structurally related species Cladonia foliacea, the major shared metabolites atranorin and fumarprotocetraric acid showed direct antimicrobial activity. Growth inhibition was demonstrated against Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus faecalis, Proteus vulgaris, Listeria monocytogenes, Aeromonas hydrophila, Candida albicans, and Candida glabrata.

Antiproliferative Mechanisms

The extract of Cladonia rangiferina presented good cytotoxic activity against human melanoma and colon cancer cell lines. Fumarprotocetraric acid was isolated from these species, but the metabolite itself had lower activity when compared to the whole extract, and the molecular mechanism showed that it caused cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase.

Hepatoprotective Mechanisms

Studies have ascertained the effect of the ethanolic extract of Cladonia rangiferina (CRE) on alcohol-induced hepatotoxicity; animals were evaluated for the estimation of liver in vivo biochemical antioxidant parameters, and liver tissues were further evaluated histopathologically and by western blotting for localization of apoptotic gene expression that plays a pivotal role in hepatotoxicity.

5. Scientific Evidence by Area of Use

5.1 Antioxidant Activity

Evidence type: In vitro only. Strength: Preliminary.

A study investigated the in vitro antioxidant activities of acetone extracts of Cladonia furcata, Cladonia pyxidata, and Cladonia rangiferina and their atranorin and fumarprotocetraric acid constituents. Antioxidant activity was evaluated by free radical scavenging, superoxide anion radical scavenging, reducing power, and determination of total phenolic and flavonoid compounds. Atranorin had the largest free radical scavenging activity with IC50 values of 131.48 μg/mL, and the tested samples had effective reducing power and superoxide anion radical scavenging.

A further study showed that fumarprotocetraric acid has significant antioxidant activity, based on DPPH (IC50 of 228.46 µg/mL) and superoxide (IC50 of 387.57 µg/mL) radical scavenging assays, as well as reducing power assays, but this activity was not superior to the metabolite atranorin.

No human clinical trials evaluating the antioxidant effects of Cladonia rangiferina specifically have been identified in the peer-reviewed literature.

5.2 Antimicrobial Activity

Evidence type: In vitro. Strength: Preliminary; no clinical human data.

In the Kosanić et al. study, antimicrobial activity was estimated by determination of the minimal inhibitory concentration by the broth microdilution method. The most active was fumarprotocetraric acid with minimum inhibitory concentration values ranging from 0.031 to 0.125 mg/mL.

The antimicrobial activity of the chloroform, diethyl ether, acetone, petroleum ether, and ethanol extracts of related Cladonia lichens and their (-)-usnic acid, atranorin, and fumarprotocetraric acid constituents against 9 bacteria and fungi has been investigated; the extracts and pure compounds alone were found active against the same bacteria and the same yeasts.

Isolated reports of antibacterial activity for fumarprotocetraric acid occur in the literature; however, unlike other lichen acids, the pharmacology and use in other applications has received little attention. No clinical (human) antimicrobial trials for C. rangiferina preparations have been located in the peer-reviewed record.

5.3 Anticancer / Antiproliferative Activity

Evidence type: In vitro (cell lines). Strength: Very preliminary; no animal or human data available for C. rangiferina specifically.

Anticancer activity was tested against FemX (human melanoma) and LS174 (human colon carcinoma) cell lines using the MTT method. All samples were found to have strong anticancer activity toward both cell lines, with IC50 values ranging from 10.97 to 41.23 μg/mL.

The extract of C. rangiferina presented good cytotoxic activity against human melanoma and colon cancer cell lines, with results of IC50 of 19.97 and 10.97 µg/mL, respectively. Fumarprotocetraric acid was isolated from these species, but the metabolite itself had lower activity compared to the full extract (IC50 of 30–41 µg/mL, approximately); the molecular mechanism was found to involve cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase.

These results are encouraging at the cell-line level, but no animal or clinical studies have validated these findings for C. rangiferina specifically. In vitro cytotoxicity does not reliably translate to therapeutic utility.

5.4 Hepatoprotective Activity

Evidence type: Preclinical (animal study). Strength: Preliminary; no human evidence.

A study was conducted to ascertain the effect of the ethanolic extract of Cladonia rangiferina (CRE) on alcohol-induced hepatotoxicity. Animals were evaluated for the estimation of liver in vivo biochemical antioxidant parameters, and liver tissues were further evaluated histopathologically and by western blotting for localization of apoptotic gene expression that plays a pivotal role in hepatotoxicity. The results of this study reveal that CRE proved to be helpful in the treatment of alcohol-induced hepatotoxicity and oxidative stress, and results of different markers showed that CRE demonstrated the best hepatoprotective activity among the tested compounds.

This preclinical finding has not been replicated or extended to human clinical trials as of the time of writing.

5.5 Renal / Kidney-Stone Applications

Evidence type: Ethnobotanical record only. Strength: Anecdotal; no controlled data.

The lichen is used as a traditional remedy for removal of kidney stones by the Monpa in the alpine regions of the West Kameng district of Eastern Himalaya. This use is documented in the ethnobotanical literature but has not been validated in controlled clinical or animal studies.

5.6 Protective Effects on Pulmonary Cells

Evidence type: In vitro (cell culture). Strength: Very preliminary.

In traditional Chinese use, this lichen has been used for throat desiccation, sputum stagnation, and blurred vision over the course of more than 500 years. The most thoroughly investigated pharmaceutical ingredients include atranorin, fumarprotocetraric acid, and usnic acid. A study isolated water-soluble polysaccharides from the edible part of C. rangiferina and investigated their protective effects on alveolar epithelial cells from lead-ion-induced oxidative damage, with findings reported at the in vitro level only.

6. Body Systems and Health Areas

Immune and antimicrobial defence: Laboratory evidence for activity against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and yeast species via key metabolites atranorin and fumarprotocetraric acid.
Antioxidant / redox biology: In vitro free-radical scavenging and reducing power demonstrated across multiple assays.
Liver (hepatic) protection: Preclinical data in alcohol-induced hepatotoxicity models; mechanism linked to CYP2E1 inhibition and anti-apoptotic signalling.
Respiratory system: Historical and traditional use for cough, chest ailments, and sputum conditions; no modern clinical evidence.
Renal system: Ethnobotanical record of use for kidney stone removal; no validated mechanism or controlled studies.
Oncology (experimental): In vitro cytotoxicity against melanoma and colon carcinoma cell lines; strictly preclinical with no translational human data.
Skin and topical use: Traditional antiseptic and wound-healing application; supported by in vitro antimicrobial data but not by clinical trials.
Digestive system: Traditional use for mild digestive complaints, supported by the mucosal-coating properties of polysaccharide fractions.

7. Dosage Forms and Reported Study Dosages

There is currently no standardised clinical dosage for Cladonia rangiferina preparations in humans. The following dosages or concentrations appear only within the specific experimental contexts cited below, and should not be interpreted as therapeutic recommendations.

In vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial assays (Kosanić et al., LWT Food Sci. Technol., 2014): Acetone extracts of C. rangiferina and their atranorin and fumarprotocetraric acid constituents were evaluated. Atranorin demonstrated free radical scavenging with an IC50 value of 131.48 μg/mL. The most active antimicrobial compound, fumarprotocetraric acid, showed MIC values ranging from 0.031 to 0.125 mg/mL.
In vitro anticancer (Kosanić et al., 2014): Anticancer activity was tested against FemX (human melanoma) and LS174 (human colon carcinoma) cell lines using the MTT method, with IC50 values ranging from 10.97 to 41.23 μg/mL.
Antioxidant activity of fumarprotocetraric acid (Kosanić et al. study as reviewed in MDPI Metabolites, 2023): Fumarprotocetraric acid showed DPPH IC50 of 228.46 µg/mL and superoxide IC50 of 387.57 µg/mL.
Cell protection study (ScienceDirect, 2018): A related extract at concentrations that did not affect cell viability (25 µg/mL) was found to significantly revert cell toxicity induced by hydrogen peroxide in human astrocytoma cell lines.
Animal hepatoprotection study (PubMed, 2020): The ethanolic extract of Cladonia rangiferina (CRE) was administered in a rodent model of alcohol-induced hepatotoxicity. Specific dose ranges used in the animal model are not publicly disclosed in the available abstract data.

No human pharmacokinetic, dose-escalation, or randomised clinical trials for C. rangiferina dietary supplement preparations have been identified.

8. Safety Considerations and Interactions

Toxicity of Key Metabolites

The lack of toxicity of atranorin was confirmed in animal in vivo assays. However, extrapolation from animal studies to human supplemental use requires caution, and comprehensive human safety data for C. rangiferina whole-lichen or extract preparations are absent from the peer-reviewed literature.

Usnic acid is frequently mentioned in lichen medicine more broadly, but its presence and amount in Cladonia rangiferina can vary by population, environment, and extraction method. Many marketing claims focus on usnic acid alone, even though whole-lichen activity may depend on several compounds acting together. Usnic acid in high concentrations (as found in concentrated supplements of other lichen species) is associated with hepatotoxic effects in the broader lichen supplement literature, though this relationship has not been specifically characterised for C. rangiferina preparations.

Heavy Metal and Radionuclide Bioaccumulation

Lichens have for decades been used as bioindicators for atmospheric deposition of heavy metals, organic compounds, and radioactive elements. Especially the species Cladonia alpestris and Cladonia rangiferina are important for the food chain lichen–reindeer–man.

Research on C. rangiferina collected from a remote natural reserve in northeast China measured 55 elements including Ag, Al, As, Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb, U, and Zn in different parts of the podetia. The results displayed a very low degree of atmospheric element deposition at that remote study site; concentrations of most elements of limited metabolic significance generally increased from the upper to lower parts, indicating continuous bioaccumulation with exposure time.

Lichens lack a root system and other absorptive organs as well as protective cuticles and filtration mechanisms. Therefore, both necessary nutrients and toxic elements, dissolved in the atmosphere as well as present in the substrate, can be absorbed through the whole surface of the thalli. This property means that the geographic provenance and environmental history of harvested material is a critical quality consideration for any supplement application.

A survey in the former uranium mining region of Elliot Lake, Ontario, sampled Cladonia rangiferina and C. mitis across an area covering up to 50 km from the former mining operation; the results indicated that the levels of metals and radionuclides, diagnostic of mining operations, have decreased over time — particularly U, Th, and Pb levels dropped by about two orders of magnitude. This study underlines the need for rigorous sourcing and testing of lichen material used in human consumption.

Species Misidentification Risk

A similar-looking but distinct species, also known by the common name "reindeer lichen", is Cladonia portentosa. Additionally, the closely related C. stygia should be looked out for and may have been overlooked within larger C. rangiferina populations in the past. Misidentification in wild-harvesting contexts could result in variable chemical profiles in commercial preparations.

Variability in Metabolite Composition

Lichens can grow on many substrates, such as trees, rocks, and soil, and species can tolerate the extreme climates of freezing polar regions or dry and hot deserts. The same lichen species can have distinct metabolites and thus unique chemical fingerprints when collected at different geographical locations, from different environments, and during different seasons. This inter-population chemical variability has direct implications for the reproducibility and standardisation of supplement preparations.

Absence of Human Clinical Safety Data

No formal clinical safety studies, pharmacovigilance reports, or regulatory assessments (from agencies such as the EMA, EFSA, or the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements) specifically addressing Cladonia rangiferina as a dietary supplement ingredient have been identified in the sources reviewed. Accordingly, acceptable intake levels, potential drug interactions, and contraindications for human use remain uncharacterised in the scientific literature.

References

Health Conditions

Health conditions that Cladonia rangiferina may help support.

No conditions available.

Body Systems

Body systems that Cladonia rangiferina may help support.

No body systems available.