Those who lichen.. lichen a lot.
So lichens are cool. I mean, what’s NOT to lichen? Composite organisms consisting of both a fungus and a simple photosynthesizing organism like algae or cyanobacteria. Up close, lichens reveal an amazing array of colour and tiny networks.. daunting if your plan is to try and draw the darn thing.
But I’m a sucker for patterns.. especially naturally occurring ones. Lichens are just that! Big ol mess of repeatin patterns. And I’ll admit, this is probably the one organism that I just couldn’t (still haven’t) fully wrapped my head around. Soooo much fine detail!
As a subject of study and appreciation lichens, no matter the type, really try and draw you in to their labyrinth of detail. I start to feel this obligation to share EXACTLY what I’m seeing in person. This is when I remind myself, that this is why the photograph was invented.
But as abstract inspiration, the possibilities seem endless. So I guess, here is a first look at a few of my attempts at capturing the lichen world.. and I might as well toss some learnin out there too.
As in all my posts, I take all my own photos with my trusty Samsung Galaxy S9 (cutting edge technology folks).. no editing, just some cropping. All of these lichens were observed within a 15 minute radius of my house in Burnaby, British Columbia, with the exception of the two photographs below. The yellow crustose lichen was found on a south-facing rock at the peak of Whistler Mountain, and the grey crustose lichen was found growing at Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver.
Lichens are grouped into three main types:
- Foliose – which have a leaf-like appearance.
- Fruticose – are highly branched, either hanging or standing up.
- Crustose – are the ones that look like a crust that has formed on a surface like a rock or tree trunk.
The algal (or bacterial) component is the autotroph in this relationship. It supplies the nutrients to the organism through photosynthesis. The fungus protects the algae from desiccation and also provides it with a means to grow and attach to whatever substrate.
..and if you enjoy being bombarded by Latin and scientific terminology, do yourself a huge favor and look up lichen taxonomic classification or Lichen Growth forms and internal structures. Good times my geeky friends!
They are slooooooow growing and everywhere. It is estimated that 6% of Earth’s land surface is covered by lichens. And they are not a picky lot either. Some lichens were exposed to Martian atmospheric conditions in the lab for a period of over 3 weeks in 2012. Despite the weak atmospheric pressure, lack of protection from cosmic radiation, bitter cold and alien atmospheric composition, some species not only survived, but continued to grow and function with relative normality! Lichens can even grow on plastic.
Hummingbirds and other nest building species use lichen for nest building and camouflage. Lichens can even be used in making dyes and perfumes, as well as traditional medicines.
Lichens are eaten by many different cultures as well, though its generally when times are lean. Lichens are not very easy to digest and contains minimal nutritional content. And of course, a few lichen species are eaten by insects and larger animals such as reindeer. Remember kids, no reindeer, no Christmas!
So love a lichen! A delicate, yet resilient organism that’s been practicing unchecked socialist behavior in our forests, across our tundra, and on the sides of volcanoes since the beginning of time (or at least since the devonian). Living in mutually beneficial, symbiotic, cross-species, relationships. Buncha single-celled hippies.. chillin, sharin.
– Aaron