Macro Monday: Fruticose Lichen

Fruticose lichen covered with ice after freezing rain.

Fruticose lichens are the most three-dimensional lichen type.  They're usually round in cross section, and most are branched, looking like small shrubs.  The lichens in the lower right are foliose.  They are leaf-like and look something like foliage.  Neither are harmed by ice nor freezing temperature, though dry conditions will cause them to go dormant.

Fruticose lichen with apothecia (fruiting bodies).

The same type of lichen a few inches up the branch are "blooming", producing fruiting bodies called apothecia.  All lichens are an alga and fungus living in a symbiotic relationship.  Most (but not all) of the fungi involved in producing lichens are Ascomycetes, which reproduce by growing a cup-like fruiting body called an apothecium.  The apothecium's spores will only reproduce a fungus.  To form a lichen it must combine with the appropriate algae.



Macro Monday is hosted by Lisa's Chaos.  Please visit this site to participate and/or see more macros.

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Macro Monday: Fruticose Lichen

Algae

Pond scum continues bubbling. The plot (pond?) thickens.

Algae

Wandering

Just wandering around taking photos without any particular theme or purpose.




A colorful mushroom growing on a fallen log. There were several of these growing in a cluster.




A relic from a pre-aluminum culture.

Unfortunately, previous owners of our place thought that proper trash disposal meant throwing it over the nearest bluff. This philosophy not only included daily trash but extended to old refrigerators and even automobiles.




Lots of tiny bubbles.


This little winter wetland pond would often be ice-covered in January, but this year's warm temperatures have led to abundant algae growth. If I'm not mistaken, the algae produces all the bubbles. The bubbles cling to the algae so it will float near the surface and, thereby, receive maximum sunshine for photosynthesis.

Wandering