Lichen is not moss. Neither are lichens plants or related to plants. However like plants they survive using photosynthesis. Lichen is a composite organism, consisting of algae or cynobacteria living with several fungi. The algae and fungi share a symbiotic relationship, and together a Lichen’s properties are different than its component parts. Lichens can be extremely resilient, with different species living in arctic tundra, arid deserts, on bare rock and hanging freely from tree branches. The lichen seen above is growing on a fallen stick in the grand forest. Lichens can live an extremely long time, with one example dating to be over 8000 years old, and have a very slow growth rate of usually only 1-2 mm a year.

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