ABC Wednesday – L is for Lichen

Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a  green alga or cyanobacterium.  So now you know!  Lichens occur in some of the most extreme environments on Earth.  Some lichens have the aspect of leaves (foliose lichens); others cover the surface like a crust (crustose lichens); others adopt shrubby forms (fruticose lichens), and there are also gelatinous lichens.  There are 1873 species listed in 'The Lichens of Great Britain and Ireland' - that's more lichens than there are native plants. Some are extinct but more are still being discovered each year, either new to the region or new to science.  The world lichen list probably stands at around 17,000 although it is difficult to be precise since many regions have not been thoroughly searched.

Herere some of the British lichens I have photographed.  Most species do not have a common name but a few do and I have included a few of those. 

 There are at least seven species of lichen in this photo.

 Woodlands and sea shores are the best places to spot lichens.

 Sometimes you can see the fruiting bodies in them.

  Cap Lichen (Caloplaca heppiana)

 Reindeer Moss (Cladonia species) N.B. not a moss but a lichen but the green stuff below it is a moss.

 Trumpet Lichen (Cladonia species)

 Matchstick Lichen  (Cladonia floerkeana)

 Pixie Cups (Cladonia pyxidata)

Oakmoss  (Evernia prunastri)

Elegant Script Lichen  (Graphis elegans)

 Disc Lichen (Tremolecia atrata syn. Lecidea dicksonii)

 Dog Lichen (Peltigera species)

 Antler Lichen (Pseudoevernia furfuracea)

Old Man's Beard (Usnea species)

Over 600 substances have been extracted from lichens which help them to survive in marginal environments and ward off attacks by bacteria, other fungi and grazing herbivores. These substances include pigments used in dyeing, toxins, air pollution monitors, perfumes, food and antibiotics used in medicines.

 (I am not a lichenologist so please do not rely on my identifications - there are dozens of similar species and many are very hard to identify.)

  

If you would like to see more examples of how the letter L has been handled by the Alphabet Wednesday crew please visit the ABC link site.

Scheduled to come on at midnight NZST. We shall see if Blogger obliges! It's been changing my scheduled posts back to drafts a lot of the time.