for wigs and fixative for perfume have all been cited as historical uses. Oakmoss is still used in the perfumery industry. Apparently, most kinds of lichen are edible and certainly it is well known that reindeer eat them, but for human consumption the desperation factor probably has to kick in. In more recent times dried specimens of the more flamboyant varieties have represented trees and shrubbery as artificial landscape features on architects’ scale models and many are still used by floral artists. Interest in this group of organisms is undergoing a revival. Their diversity of form and colour and their almost surreal appearance when viewed at close range have stirred the imagination of many creatives including photographers, painters and embroiderers. There are shrubby lichens, beard-like lichens and fine hair-like lichens. Some species produce cup or goblet shapes whilst others have regiments of structures that look like miniature elephant trunks protruding from the surface. Many are just blobs, but those blobs can be wrinkly, ridged, ropy or star-shaped. Lichens may look like leaves, frills or twigs and be powdery or gelatinous. They can stick up or hang down, or just be flat and flaky, or maybe appear like the surface of the moon. If you were to set yourself the task of designing a three-dimensional surface decoration and let your imagination run wild, whatever you came up with, the chances are that some lichen somewhere would have
•Golden Shield on Elder branches
got there first. Always, of course, with a purpose.
Lichens need to propagate. One way they do this by means of spores, which is often where the cups, flakes and powder come in, but there is a snag. The sexually produced spore is made by the fungus alone and is fine for reproducing fungus but it has its limitations when it comes to making new lichen. The spore not only needs to end up in a suitable location to germinate, it also needs an appropriate alga cell to turn up at the right time before the lichen partnership can regenerate. The second, vegetative, means of
reproduction is more reliable. It involves little ‘packets’ of lichen breaking off and being dispersed by wind, rain or any
• Natural wool(left) and wool dyed with Golden Shield lichen(right)
creature that walks, crawls, flies or slithers. Because the little packets contain elements of both fungus and alga (they have been likened to parcels of miniature spaghetti and peas), all that’s needed is a hospitable place to develop. This explains why bushes will often be covered with one variety of lichen with perhaps a few colonies of a different type. It is always a delight when spring arrives, and with it the cheerful blooms that signal the end of the winter, but it’s worth taking time to appreciate some of the fantastic shapes and shades of the humble lichens. They are present all year but those on trees and bushes are best appreciated in the winter and early spring. For stunning colour, Xanthoria parietina, the Golden Shield, is a real winner, but it is just one of hundreds of types of lichen that give an extra dimension to our every day environment, if we just pause to look. There’s a fantastic microworld out
there waiting to be discovered – it may even start on your doorstep!n
March 2011 27
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