What's that green stuff everywhere? It's Lichen!
Very strange looking thing on rocks, concrete, trees... It's all lichens. Some of them have such amazing shapes and colours.
Here is a few I photographed a while ago. I had no idea what it is and had to do some Googling.
How cool when you can learn new things with photography :)
I still wish to see the one with red tips - Soldier Lichen it is called I think.
One day... One I will find it! :)
All photos take with my old trusty Lumix DMC-FZ8.
Check out @bragih post with Yellow lichen on a beach stone.
Gorgeous pictures! Fascinating how some of these specimens are reminiscent of corals and some aquatic plants. I didn't know these types of vegetal were lichen. I am more familiar with the common moss, did you know it contains small amounts of iodine and can be used to filter water as a last resort (though, don't try it if you are not in a survival situation, it is not proven to be 100% effective in all situations). Do you know if some of the specimens you photographed also have some of these practical properties? Also, I'm working on compiling a herbarium on steemit, if you would like to join the effort and share some of your pictures and knowledge, simply use the "herbarium" tag. I hope to see you there! Thanks for the beautiful pictures, have a nice day!
Thank you! I don't think those can filter water. They are pretty dry and stuck to the surface. Mosses are more "fluffy" and can hold a lot of water. I think I saw somewhere that if extreme situations you can squeeze the water our of a moss and drink it. Probably there is lots of tiny organisms in that water - but you will survive ;)
Not sure about the properties of those and if they can be used in a medical way... I simply love how they look :)
Thanks for your reply, you are right about the mosses. I also enjoy how Lichen looks like. I did a little research to get an idea of what one could do with Lichen and check this out: with specific types you can make medicine, food and dyes. I also had an interesting read on the US National Library of Medicine's website about the history of Lichen usage by humans, common practices and known benefits. Here's the link to that article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5320728/
This is pretty awesome! Everything in nature has it's purpose, but just don't know about it..
I just remembered that I think saw some program saying that reindeer and other animals eat lichens (and moss) in winter when other food is hard to find under the snow.
Do you know @haphazard-hstead here on Steemit? She knows A LOT about wild plants and weeds.
Yes, it's true! Lichen is used as a food source when plants are scarce because of the snow. It also grows a lot in the Tundra and is an essential part of animals survival!
O, so lovely lichen :)
Yea :D
Your turn now!
OK, but not so many photos at ones :)
Up to you :D
4? is that ok? Here they are:
https://steemit.com/photography/@bragih/icelandic-lichens-in-many-size-colors-and-types
Thank you Ewa! I have a photo with lichen but I had no idea what's its name :D
hahaha there you go :D
Taking the lichen!
Thank you and enjoy! I have plenty :D
Great shots. Is this fungus or mold?
Lichen is fungi and algae (or a bacteria) that live together. And they create a lichen form.
Great pictures, they "remind" me of alien planets, very cool stuff!
I think Lichens are aliens! :D
They are super cool!
Fascinating, and also moss, I like that stuff as well, beautiful plants
Oh yeaaaa I like moss too. Have lots of photos of that too :D
moss in black and white, with sunlight on it ...
You have? :D
Hmmm, some look like mold, some look like coral... We don't have such ones here because of the hot weather I guess - ours are flat green boring pieces!
They are never boring! Those looks like flat boring pieces too from a distance :D