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Lichen

Cross with lichen on stone, at Hermitage St Helier, Jersey
Lichen-covered tree, Isles of Scilly, UK. Grey, leafy lichen upper half of trunk; yellowy-green lichen on middle, lower half and up the extreme right side; and a shrubby lichen
A foliate (leafy) lichen on a branch with dark green mosses

Lichens are a symbiosis of at least two quite different organisms. The partnership always involves a fungus, which lives with one or more partners which can do photosynthesis. The photobiont[1] partner may be a green alga and/or a cyanobacterium.[2]p5,6,13

The algae or bacteria live inside the fungus, and exchange nutrients with it. The lichen is different in shape and mode of life from any of the partners. It is a distinct form of life. Botanists did not know this until about 1875.[3]

There are more than 2,000 species in Britain and Ireland alone, many of which are found in temperate rainforests.[4]

  1. ↑ photosynthesis+bio = photobiont
  2. ↑ Cite error: The named reference Purvis was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
  3. ↑ de Bary, Anton 1879. Die Erscheinung der Symbiosis. In Verlag auf der Versammlung der Naturforscher und Artze zu Cassel. Strassburg.
  4. ↑ Rescue mission for UK rainforests’ weird treasures [1]
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