I was on a hike recently and remembered my childhood fascination with the small orange and green lichen that grows on the surface of rocks. I was under the impression it was a type of fungi, but brief research said it was a plant. More research says yes but actually no, it’s a plant AND a fungus. Even more said it’s a plant, fungus, and bacteria. I’m thoroughly confused by this and there’s just too much information and I’m having trouble sifting though it.
I greatly appreciate the information, thanks in advance!
In: Biology
Firstly, its neat! Its effectively fungus that learned to farm.
Secondly it is both a fungus and an algae or bacteria that have a symbiotic relationship
The fungus does the heavy lifting of gripping onto trees and rocks, providing shelter for its little food source, and collecting moisture/nutrients from the environment.
The algae or cyanobacteria takes the water and nutrients and uses them in photosynthesis to make sugar that it and the fungus consume for energy.
The fungus cannot live on its own, it needs the food that the algae/bacteria provides so they’ve formed a symbiotic relationship with the algae/bacteria.
In a similar vein, coral are tiny animals that have collected even tinier plants to perform photosynthesis for them
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