This entry is mainly for my own benefit it's *not* for the Edited Guide ... but anybody who wants to read it, can do so of course! Lichens are trutly fascinating, and most people know way too little about them.

Do you know the answer? Well, if not, don't feel too bad! Lichens are among the most grievously unknown and underestimated living entities. What are they? They are living structures that are made up of combinations of creatures from up to three different living Kingdoms! The body of a lichen is mainly constituted from a fungus (Kingdom Fungi)... any of a huge variety of species. The wonderful thing is ... the lichen fungi have learned the secret of agriculture! They learned it billions of years before humans have, in fact. In a lichen, the fungus farms with algae (Kingdom Protista) or cyanobacteria (Kingdom Monera) to produce food for it to consume.

Algae and cyanobacteria photosynthesize - they produce carbohydrates by combining carbon dioxide from the air with water, using energy they get from sunlight. Fungi cannot do this. In a lichen, the fungus uses its own body to give shelter and protection to an alga, or a cyanobacterium, or both. In return for the protection that it offers, it gets to absorb some of the food produced by the alga or the cyanobacterium.

Lichens of North America ... an EXCELLENT site!!!

Lichenland

The University of California's Museum Of Paleontology Lichen Page