the.com/lichen
two organisms in a relationship so committed they stopped being separate species.
means A composite organism formed by a fungus and an alga (or cyanobacterium) living together, growing as a crusty, leafy, or branching patch on rocks, bark, and bare ground.
from From Greek 'leichēn,' which named these clinging growths and is thought to derive from 'leichein,' meaning 'to lick' — as if the lichen were tonguing the stone it spreads across. The same root sense possibly nods to the way the patch seems to lap at a surface. English borrowed it through Latin 'lichen,' keeping both the spelling and the slightly debated pronunciation (some say 'LY-ken,' some 'LITCH-en').
- double act
- A fungus and an alga living as one body.
- slow burn
- Some grow under a millimeter per year.
- ancient ones
- Arctic colonies clocked at over 8,000 years old.
- space proof
- Survived raw vacuum on the station's exterior.
- rock eaters
- Their acids crumble stone into future soil.
crustose lichen on granite — covers exposed rock faces worldwide, including yosemite's monoliths, with no visible leafy structure
reindeer moss in arctic — sustains caribou herds across alaska and northern canada as primary winter food source