What are lichens and their types

Although originally called the different plants that grew in the bark of the olive trees and other trees, and then the word was used as an alternative of equal meaning to the moss, currently its study is much more developed and its meaning is different. In fact, it is called Licen to the symbiotic fusion of a fungus with an organism capable of performing photosynthesiseither a cyanobacteria or an algae. Due to this peculiar nature, which gives the union of the two characteristic organisms of those that do not have separately, they are also usually called Licenized fungi. Its two components are called Mycobionte or mycosimbionte (This being the fungal part) and Photobionte (This is the part capable of performing photosynthesis).

Among the main characteristics of lichens We find that:

• The lichen shape is almost always dominated by the mycobionte.
• The photobionte, for practical reasons, tends to be located on the periphery of the lichen, where he can collect the light.
• Recently a third component was discovered in the symbiosis present in many species of lichens: a yeast Basidiomycota.
• They are able to survive very long droughts, sometimes even years.
• It is always the photobionte who provides energy to the whole, being the mybiking in charge of providing its resistance to desiccation. Thus, both can live in environments where they would not get it separately.
• They can live in a huge variety of habitats, from tropics to the poles.

So that you can better understand the relationship between these beings, we recommend expanding information on what symbiosis with examples is.

They are distinguished 7 types of lichens If we look at their way of adhering to substrate and morphology.

• Foliacea: They are the ones that develop on the surface of the substrate, extending through it and setting thanks to its rich or at a single point. Some examples are Xanthoria, Physcia or Umbillicaria.
• FRUTICULOSS: These lichens tend to adopt the form of reduced sized shrubs, and are fixed to the substrate at a reduced point or surface. They are usnea, alector and branching fruitful lichens.
• Small: Its edge is not attached to the substrate, and adopt the form of a tapestry of very close scales to each other. An example of this is Psora.
• Filamentosos: Some of these are very similar to the fruitful. They form a network of threads or filaments, very fine and usually tangled. Cystocoleus is one of them.
• Jewish: When they have enough humidity, their texture becomes fleshy and flexible, soft. In addition, in this state of abundance of water they can make translucent.
• Crustaceans: They are the most numerous of the known lichens. As the name implies, they adhere with great force to the substrate in which they develop, which is usually in the rocks, although sometimes they also do it in dead wood, leaves or trunks, as well as on land or humus.
• Compounds: They have two talos, a main one that is almost always squamous or crustacean and another secondary, which is fruitful.

Lickenes are organisms of great ecological importanceand here we give you some of the main reasons:

• They are one of their most important functions that of colonizers In almost all primary ecosystems.
• Due to their great resistance and their unique characteristics, they can grow and develop in very hostile and arid media, and when they die they are part of the humus that enriches soil nutrients so that plants and other organisms can prosper in it.
• In addition, there are lichens that release acids of acids when they die, thus contributing to the degradation of the most habitable rocks and the formation of soil.
• They are also Apt for consumption Human Food, and there are several countries that usually consume them as part of their gastronomies.
• They are also used as components of perfumes and dyes, for the manufacture of cosmetics.
• In medicine they have been traditionally used by their great antibiotic properties. Modern medicine uses them in antitumor, antimicotic, anti -inflammatory and antibiotic drugs.
• In addition, they are a great Air quality metersince they are very long -lived and at the same time sensitive to contaminated airs, although they have a great capacity for recovery when the conditions are adequate again.

If you liked this information about what the lichens are, the types that exist and their importance and if you want to discover more about the world of fungi and what more characteristics they have, apart from some of them being able to have such a relationship with photosynthetic organisms, we recommend you read this other ecology article see about the Fungi Kingdom: what is, characteristics, classification and examples.

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