Wildflower season will begin in a couple of months. I have a new camera to practice with to get ready. So I am out looking at lichens.
What Is a Lichen?
These are a textbook example of symbiosis, mutualism, a partnership between two organisms. Both of the participants benefit.
In the case of lichens, a fungus and an alga are the participants. The fungus provides the structure and nutrients. The alga provides food as it can do photosynthesis. A fungus can’t.
Where Are Lichens?
Around my home, lichens are lots of places. They grow on the trees. Some ground and rock areas are covered. Even my clothesline and truck have lichens growing on them.
These plantlike growths come in a variety of shapes and colors. Some look like flat leaves and are called folious. Others are spiky. The many branches of some make it look lacy.
Most lichens I see are a grayish green. There are places where they appear black. The ones on a black walnut near my barn are orange.
Up on a hill I found the soldier lichen. All lichens make a kind of pod that opens to release spores into the air to form new lichens elsewhere. Soldier lichens have bright red pods and got their name as the color was like that of British soldiers.
Why Bother With Lichens?
If you’ve ever admired Spanish moss, you’ve admired a lichen. Such lichens grow where the air is moist like in the South.
Up on the tundra, reindeer and caribou graze on lichens as grass has trouble growing in such a cold place. Cold, even freezing, doesn’t seem to bother lichens much as long as they have water, nutrients and sunlight.
Lichens aren’t Wildflowers
My Dent County Flora is about plants. Lichens aren’t plants. But they are interesting.
And looking at lichens, taking some pictures of them, let’s me get in some good camera practice. Plus they are interesting. Any excuse is a good one to go out walking in the woods.
