It is all in the pronunciation....
anyway.... no matter how you say it...
lichens, and mosses for that matter...are a lovely macro photography subject.
These are just a few from here.... and there....
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| Physcia leptalea Lichen.... with thanks to Susan Walter for the ID |
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| Lichens are first colonisers... the mix of fungus and algae allow them to get a foothold on bare rock.... |
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| This is one of the so called "Stag's Horn" lichens... along with a yellow Xanthoria species or similar. |
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| Physcia leptalea Lichen.... along with another type of Xanthoria species or similar |
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| Also, lichens look different in dry or wet conditions.... this, and the following one are one and the same.... a Lecanora species... this is when it was wet |
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| ... and this after it had dried out! |
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| These are more "Stag's Horn" lichen... taken looking up a tree in the Brenne |
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| And this is perhaps one of the best known types.... "Pixies' Caps"... a Cladonia species.. but, when you start looking.... you will realise that the Cladonia group has more than one species that can be called "Pixies' Caps" Here it is growing amongst a Polytricum species moss |
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| This is another Xanthoria species or similar lichen, growing with moss... possibly a Hypnum species. Where lichens lead, mosses follow! |
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| And, if it is damp enough.... along with the mosses, come Liverworts... this is a Marchantia species... often called Birds Nest Liverwort |
And in 2016, it was discovered that lichens are not the symbiotic relationship between an algae and a fungi.... no, indeedy....
it is a relationship between two different groups of fungi... and an algae! See here.
