Foxes Lair
  • Home
  • About Foxes Lair
    • Geology and Soils
    • History
  • Things To Do
    • Picnic Spots
    • Walking Tracks
    • Visit the Arboretum
    • Ride Your Bicycle
  • Things To See
    • Birds
    • Wildflowers
    • Trees in the Narrogin district
    • Narrogin spiders scorpions ticks
    • Layman's guide to Narrogin Spiders
    • Vertebrates
    • Fungi and lichens
  • District Ecotourist Guide
  • 1Foxypress
    • Vanishing Farms
    • Foxypress
  • Contact
  • Spider tool

Lichens

24/5/2017

0 Comments

 
Greetings fellow Foxies,
                                     I love looking at lichens after rain, when they transform from dry scabby coatings to almost iridescent grey, green, purple, yellow, etc shapes and patterns on rocks, bark, and wood that excites my imagination.
according to Wikipedia ‘a lichen is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria (or both) living among filaments of a fungus in a symbiotic relationship. The combined life form has properties that are very different from the properties of its component organisms.’
The algae/cyanobacteria produce sugars by photosynthesis that they share with the fungi in exchange for protection, moisture and minerals. They are very tough, occurring from desert to tundra and very old. They evolved at least 400 million years ago and live longer than most organisms.
Breaking news: all lichens also contains another fungus that coats the other 2 participants and holds them together. Everything you want to know about lichens can be found on this website.
Lichens do not affect living organisms, but rely on air, water, dust,  and minerals derived from acids that they exude into underlying rock and organic matter.
Picture
Mixed colony
Picture
Yellow lichen at Yornaning
Picture
Cladia aggregata Boyagin rock
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Usnea sp. (green), Haematomma sp. (red)
Picture
Flavoparmelia sp on mallee nut
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    Doug Sawkins is a friend of Foxes Lair who once worked for the WA Department of Agriculture

    Categories

    All
    Animals Other
    Birds
    Disorders Plant Animal
    Fungi Lichens
    History
    Insects Bugs Other Arthropods
    Landscapes Soils
    Other Reserves And Places
    Reptiles
    Spiders Other Arachnids
    Tree
    Walks Other Facilities
    Wasp
    Wildflowers Orchids
    Wildflowers Other Summer Autumn
    Wildflowers Other Winter Spring
    Wildflowers Parasitic

    Archives

    November 2019
    October 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    September 2014
    August 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    May 2012
    March 2012
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    April 2011

© 2015 All Rights Reserved. Doug Sawkins, Australia.