Lichens on rocks along the Wasson Peak trail. — Image by kenne
“Lichen is a composite organism consisting of a fungus (the mycobiont) and a photosynthetic partner (the photobiont or phycobiont) growing together in a symbiotic relationship. The photobiont is usually either a green alga (commonly Trebouxia) or cyanobacterium (commonly Nostoc).”
When teaching children about lichen, Sabino Canyon Volunteer Nationalists (SCVN) share this short poem:
Lichen — Images by kenne
Lichen is a fungus that grows symbiotically with algae, resulting in a composite organism that characteristically forms a crust like or branching growth on rocks or tree trunks. It will be brown in color when it dries out, but with recent rain, gray, green and yellow color returns. When working with elementary school children in Sabino Canyon, the naturalists often use the following phase:
“Alice Algae took a lichen to Freddie Fungus,
but now their relationship is on the rocks”.
kenne
