Usnea — answers to usnea lichen, old man's beard
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Usnea is a lichen — a symbiotic organism of fungus and algae — that grows on trees and rocks. Supplement extracts are usually made from the whole lichen and contain usnic acid as a main compound of interest.
Why it’s used
Taken traditionally to support respiratory and skin health, often marketed as an antimicrobial botanical.
What the evidence says
There is no NIH Office of Dietary Supplements fact sheet for usnea, and no body of well-designed human trials establishing an effect from oral use. Most available data come from laboratory and animal studies of usnic acid, not from people taking usnea itself.
Where we looked
There was no paper to cite here, so this is the search instead — run it yourself and see what we saw.
- PubMed: 0 records · searched August 2026
"Usnea"[Title/Abstract] AND ("dietary supplements"[MeSH] OR supplementation[Title/Abstract] OR supplement[Title/Abstract] OR supplements[Title/Abstract] OR "oral administration"[Title/Abstract]) AND (randomized controlled trial[pt] OR clinical trial[pt] OR meta-analysis[pt] OR systematic review[pt]) AND humans[MeSH] - PubMed: 361 records · searched August 2026
"Usnea"[Title/Abstract]
This says what this database holds under these terms. It is not a finding that no research exists.
Context
Traditional use spans centuries in folk medicine across several continents, but this history does not substitute for controlled human study, which remains sparse.
Educational information, not medical or safety advice. Consult a professional for allergies or medical concerns.