This page is where you will find information about Lichen, which is created by an amazing cooperation (called symbiosis) between various species of algae and fungi. We have found and photographed many different types of lichen in Sunfish Lake Park, and plan to identify them, collect information about them, and present the findings on this site. Click on these button to see or save Karen’s presentation on the basics of lichen biology. Scroll down the page to see the pictures of some of the species in the Park.
- The wide variety of Lichen found in nature are classified into three main types:
- CrustoseThese lichens form a crust over a surface, like a boulder, tree bark, or roof shingles. They can come in many bright, vibrant colors like sunny yellow, orange, and red, as well as grays and greens. Crustose lichens are pressed against their substrate.
- FolioseThese lichens have flat, leaf-like lobes that are not usually firmly attached to their substrate. They typically have distinct upper and lower surfaces, each covered with a cortex. Foliose lichens can attach to their substrate using hyphae or root-like structures called rhizines.
- FruticoseThese lichens have no distinct top or bottom and are often round in cross-section. Their thalli can be upright, shrubby, or pendulous strandsReferences:
- The part of a lichen that is not involved in reproduction, the “body” or “vegetative tissue” of a lichen, is called the thallus. The thallus form is very different from any form where the fungus or alga are growing separately. The thallus is made up of filaments of the fungus called hyphae. The filaments grow by branching then rejoining to create a mesh, which is called being “anastomosed“. The mesh of fungal filaments may be dense or loose.
The first Sunfish Lake Park lichen example is found on a residual branch of the recently removed invasive Tartarian Honeysuckle bush, near the Southeast corner of the nature center’s acre, GPS 44.98596 N and 92.90518 W. There appear to be two varieties on this image, grey-green at the top and yellow-green at the lower part (right image). Please be patient while we identify these types.
The images below were taken in Sunfish Lake Park on December 29. 2023 by Karen. As we can identify these lichens, we will classify them and provide further information. It would be interesting to return to these same places and find out what changes have occurred since late 2023.
