What Does Lichen Mean?

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What Does Lichen Mean?

3 Answers

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Answer 1

Lichens are also known as "dual organisms", Lichen is also the term given to a fungus or also green algae and cynabacterium. There are around 13,500 to 17,000 lichen species. The lichens are divided into four categories namely Crustose, Fruticose, Squamulose, and Foliose. Some lichens grow on the bark of trees while others grow on cooled lava flows or on bare rock surfaces. They also help in the formation of soil. The body of the lichens is also known as a thallus. Some species of lichens also grow in the tundra regions or on the tundra soil. They act as food source for many animals during the cold winter. Some lichens are also parasitic and also grow on crops such as coffee plant. Reproduction in lichens is asexual i.e. By vegetation reproduction or by Diasporas, which contain algal and fungal cells.

Answer 2

Anonymous answered

Drinking a cup of warm Cayenne pepper with lemon kills the algea and fungus that causes Lichen Planus

Answer 3

Lichen is a complex organism formed by the symbiosis of an alga and a fungus. The formation of Lichens appears in the form of small patchy crusty outgrowths in colours of green, brown, orange and other colours. These crusty-like patches are found on rocks, tree trunks and moist soil. There are about 25,000 species of lichen present with the body or thallus made of filaments. These filament or hypae are made of fungi.

The greenish colour of the lichen is attributed to the presence of chlorophyll from the photosynthetic green algae. The Lichen lives on air, light and minerals. The fungal part of the lichen is instrumental in producing acids that split up the rocks, helping the lichen get a better hold of the base. It also aids in the erosion process, turning the rock into soil. The Lichen reproduces by splitting of a part of the thallus that contains both the components the fungi and the algae.

Lichens also refer to an itchy skin disease which resembles a group of lichens growing on rocks. One sees an eruption of little inflammatory elevations on the skin devoid of pus, growing in purplish colour on the forearms, wrist and the thighs.