Talk:Pseudocyphellaria

A fact from Pseudocyphellaria appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 17 March 2010 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows: Did you know... that a species of old growth forests and is being threatened in Scandinavia by increased predation from snails? A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2010/March.

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I am unaware of any published reference as to the potential toxicity to humans of Pseudocyphellaria, and given the general lack of popularity of lichens in the culinary traditions of most of the cultures that publish those references, I think it is unlikely that there will be one. However, there are references to the fact that pulvinic acid is poisonous, and that some species of Pseudocyphellaria contain this compound. I realize that putting these facts together to suggest that Pseudocyphellaria may be toxic could be interpreted as constituting original research. However, it is a very small logical step, and I feel that it would be unethical to suggest ingesting this lichen (which the preceding fact does) without cautioning readers of potential toxicity. Very few lichens are poisonous, this happens to be one of them. I think that it would be negligent to omit this fact. Millifolium (talk) 19:37, 17 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]