rock tripe

American  

noun

1. any lichen of the genus Umbilicaria.

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rock tripe British  

noun

1. any of various edible lichens, esp of the genus Umbilicaria , that grow on rocks and are used in the North as a survival food

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Etymology

Origin of rock tripe

First recorded in 1850–55; allegedly so called in reference to the appearance of the thallus

Example Sentences

The most wonderful of all is probably the greenish-black rock tripe, found on the bleakest, highest rocks in the northern parts of this continent.

From Scouting For Girls, Official Handbook of the Girl Scouts by Bacon, Josephine Dodge Daskam

We lived for weeks on reindeer moss and rock tripe.

From Diane of the Green Van by Dalrymple, Leona

"Probably," says Margry, "he must, from time to time, have added some of the lichen which the Canadians call rock tripe."

From History of the Discovery of the Northwest by John Nicolet in 1634 With a Sketch of his Life by Butterfield, Consul Willshire