reindeer moss (redirected from reindeer mosses)

reindeer moss

n.

An erect, grayish, branching lichen (Cladonia rangiferina) of Arctic regions, constituting the chief source of food for reindeer and several other herbivores.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

reindeer moss - an erect greyish branching lichen of Arctic and even some north temperate regions constituting the chief food for reindeer and caribou and sometimes being eaten by humans arctic moss, Cladonia rangiferina, reindeer lichen lichen - any thallophytic plant of the division Lichenes; occur as crusty patches or bushy growths on tree trunks or rocks or bare ground etc. Cladonia, genus Cladonia - type genus of Cladoniaceae; lichens characterized by a crustose thallus and capitate fruiting bodies borne on simple or branched podetia