Thursday

Lichen from Weiser Ridge

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I’m always on the lookout for some good lichen pictures and found these two on a hike at Weiser Ridge on 0329/2012. I think the amazing thing is that they were both within about 30 feet of each other, yet so different in both texture and color. Lichens rank among the least well known forms of life. They can be found covering rocks, soil, bark, etc. -- often forming brilliantly colored streaks. Their very structure is a symbioses of two organisms -- a fungus and algae. I have yet to find any information on what causes it to grow in the first place or about what specific conditions produce a certain type. The yellow ones pictured here are probably what is know as Common Yolk Lichens (Acarospora spp.); the green ones are called Lecanora spp.