lichen
Sign in to savethumb|A tree covered with leafy foliose lichens and shrubby fruticose lichens
AI overview
Lichens are organisms made up of fungi and algae living together, often seen as colorful crusty or leafy growths on rocks, trees, and soil. They're important because they break down rock into soil, provide food for wildlife, and serve as indicators of air quality since they're sensitive to pollution.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
43 sectionsContents
- Etymology and pronunciation
- Anatomy and morphology
- Growth forms
- Color
- Internal structure
- Physiology
- Symbiotic relation
- Ecology
- Miniature ecosystem and holobiont theory
- Lichenicolous fungi
- Reaction to water
- Metabolites, metabolite structures and bioactivity
- Growth rate
- Life span
- Response to environmental stress
- Reproduction and dispersal
- Vegetative reproduction
- Sexual reproduction
- Taxonomy and classification
- Fungi
- Photobionts
- Controversy over classification method and species names
- Diversity
- Identification methods
- Evolution and paleontology
- Ecology and interactions with environment
- Substrates and habitats
- Lichens and soils
- Ecological interactions
- Effects of air pollution
- Human use
- Food
- Lichenometry
- Biodegradation
- Dyes
- Traditional medicine and research
- Recreational and entheogenic use
- Aesthetic appeal
- In literature
- History
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|A tree covered with leafy foliose lichens and shrubby fruticose lichens
A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among filaments of multiple fungus species, along with bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualistic relationship. Lichens are the lifeform that first brought the term symbiosis (as Symbiotismus) into biological context.