Lichen on a headstone in St Andrew’s Church, Milborne St Andrew, Dorset
A series following the 72 British mini-seasons of Nature’s Calendar by Kiera Chapman, Lulah Ellender, Rowan Jaines and Rebecca Warren.
Dear Readers, lichen are a lifeform that is so often overlooked and unappreciated, but like moss it can best be appreciated when plants and fungi are taking a winter break. And once seen, it’s everywhere! In her piece in Nature’s Calendar, Kiera Chapman tells us that there are 2,300 species of lichen in the UK. They vary enormously, from flat crusts like the ones above to organisms that look more like coral. They live in habitats as varied as deserts and rainforests, and can vary in size from less than a millimetre to two metres.
What is a lichen, though? It’s not a single organism but an association between at least two organisms – the mycobiont, which is a fungus, and the photobiont, which gathers energy from light via photosynthesis and can be an alga or a bacteria. The relationship between the two has been debated for a century and a half. The whole idea of mutualism between two species (where both benefit from the association) was pooh-poohed at first, with the hypothesis being that the fungus ‘captured’ the alga/bacterium and held it captive, like an ogre sequestering Rapunzel in a tower. In fact, there is still some discussion about how to classify the relationship: it may appear that the fungus is parasitizing the other organism, but some photobionts can’t now exist without the fungus. It’s clearly a complex relationship that varies in emphasis from species to species.
Ash trunks with lichen (probably black apothecia)
Chapman discusses two different artworks that are based on lichen. First up is a monumental work by Klaus Daven on the Vouglans Dam in the Jura region of France. It was created by a process known as ‘reverse graffiti’, whereby a pressure washer blasted off most of the lichen and algae in order to create an image of a forest. It was sponsored by the electricity company and a company that makes power washers. For Chapman, and for me, it feels slightly uncomfortable – destroying one set of lifeforms to make images of others seems the opposite of environmentally friendly, however impressive the final results are.
The Vouglans Dan with Dauven’s image of the Jura forest (Thilo Parg, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
The second work is by German artist Hubert Fenzl, who uses sustainably harvested Claydonia lichen to make artworks that will live indoors for years. His ‘Rainforest’, shown below, uses the lichen to form a birds-eye view of a forest, surrounded by a menacing red area that seems to surround and encroach upon it. As Chapman points out, the combination of a human artistic vision and this natural material asks questions about our care of the forests. There is also none of the grandiosity of the dam project. I know which I prefer.
Rainforest by Hubert Fenzl (From https://www.hubert-fenzl.de/informationen/gestaltungsmaterial-cladonia-stellaris-flechte/)
I was also very heartened to learn from my RHS magazine this week that biology studen Lottie Cavanagh-Sweeney has been commissioned by the British Lichen Society to make a Lichen Trail at the RHS garden at Rosemoor in Devon. Magnifying glasses are provided to examine some of the smaller lichens, and you can download the trail to a smartphone. One of the featured lichens is the rare Tree Lungwort (Lobaria pulmonaria) which Fay Newbery, a plant pathologist, describes as ‘green when wet, brown and crinkly when dry.’
Just look at this gorgeous organism!
Tree Lungwort (Lobaria pulmonaria) Photo By Bernd Haynold – Self-photographed, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3320107
The elephant in the room, however, as with so many other things, is climate change. An article in New Scientist in 2022 suggested that it had taken a million years for the algae that form the photosynthetic part of the lichen partnership to evolve to cope with 1° Centigrade of warming. They are also not fond of air pollution – the variety of lichens on the headstone at the top of the page indicates that it’s in a rural area with relatively clean air. Still, let’s not become too downhearted just yet – lichens have been here a long time, and who knows how resilient they might prove to be? In the meantime, let’s keep our eyes open for these overlooked organisms.
While it does not help the economy, I am glad to be living in a town which is largely based on education and agriculture – no belching factories of any sort (because of the lack of water – there are advantages). The wonderful aspect of this clean air is the growth of lichens on our garden trees. This reminds me that I should do a round of photographing them again.
I was just going through some photos today from last year, when my teen son and I were in the UK. I found that while we were at the top of thr church in Ludlow, where I was photographing the breathtaking views, he was snapping pics mostly of the beautiful lichen formations on the stone tower! They really are such pretty and varied organisms.
Like you, we in the Pacific Northwest have an abundance of moss, lichen, and fungi. We love going on woodland walks in the fall, when those things are shown to good advantage.
I just read this section of natures calendar having brought it towards the end of last year, and searching for the art pieces mentioned found your post! It’s been lovely to read the words of someone who also appreciates lichen (especially on headstones!) too! Very happy I found your page 🙂
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it, and welcome!
It’s uncanny that you should have mentioned this topic today. I was out walking yesterday (in the Dales, posts to come) when my eye was taken by, what I took to be, a lichen which had red tops. (I’ll send you a pic or two separately). A quick bit of research (via a US website) suggested that it was British Soldier lichen (Cladonia cristatella) but I couldn’t find that on the British Lichen Society website. It, rather interestingly, has an image next to its name at the top (though only in red and grey) which looks exactly like it. Their website seems to suggest it might be Devil’s Matchsticks (Cladonia floerkeana), but that looks more like another photo I took of a different patch. The ‘golf tee’ shapes are missing from their photo. So I’m puzzled. If you have any thoughts, please let me know.