Lichens

I can never resist photographing a beautiful display of lichens when I see one : ) They are such beautiful growths, in their colour and their patterns. This display was found at the Nodwell Sanctuary, south east of the city.

"Lichens are amazing living entities, in that they are not a single organism like plants, animals or fungi. Instead every single lichen is the result of two or more separate organisms living permanently together. All lichens are made up of a fungal partner and either/or an algal partner or a cyanobacterium partner, or both.

Lichens first appeared about 400 million years ago so they have been around for a long time. Some individual species such as Hypogymnia physodes have been around for at least 25 million years and maybe for as long as 70 million years. Obviously the lichen symbiosis is a successful strategy."

www.earthlife.net/lichens/intro.html