...Lichen /A lichen is a composite organism that emerges from algae[->0] or cyanobacteria[->1] (or both) living among filaments of a fungus[->2] in a mutually beneficial (symbiotic[->3]) relationship.[1][2][3] The whole combined life form has properties that are very different to properties of its component organisms. Lichens come in many colors, sizes, and forms. The properties are sometimes plant-like, but lichens are not plants. Lichens may grow like a tiny, leafless, branching shrub (fruticose[->4]), like it has leaves (foliose[->5]), like a crust of paint on a surface (crustose[->6]),[4] or have other growth forms.[5] A macrolichen is a lichen that is either bush-like or leafy. A microlichen is everything else.[1] Here, "macro" and "micro" do not refer to size, but to the growth form.[1] Common names for lichens[->7] may contain the word "moss" (e.g., "Reindeer moss[->8]", "Iceland moss[->9]"), and lichens may superficially look like and grow with mosses, but lichens are not related to mosses or any plant.[3]:3 Lichens don't have roots that absorb water and nutrients like in plants.[6]:2 Instead they produce their own food from sunlight, air, water, and minerals in their environment.[7] They are not parasites[->10] on the plants they may grow on, but only use them as a substrate to grow on or in. Lichens occur from sea level[->11] to high alpine[->12] elevations, in a very wide range of environmental conditions, and can grow on almost any surface.[7] Lichens are abundant...
Words: 11624 - Pages: 47
