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British Soldiers (Lichens)

Cladonia cristatella

Description:

British Soldiers is a lichen which gets its name from its resemblance to the uniforms worn by English soldiers during the Revolutionary War. A lichen is not just one organism, but a fungus and algae living together to form a new organism. The fungus in British Soldiers is called Cladonia cristatella. The algae is known as Trebouxia erici. Because lichens take the name of the fungus part of the relationship, British Soldiers is also known as Cladonia cristatella. There are many different species of lichens, but there are three main types. "Foliose" lichens look like leaves. "Crustose" lichens look flat and crusty. "Frutose" lichens stand upright or hang down. Frutose lichens also tend to have bright colors. British Soldiers is a frutose lichen. British Soldiers, like all lichens, grows very slowly. It grows one to two millimeters each year. British Soldiers can usually be found growing on decaying wood, soil, mossy logs, tree bases, and stumps. Lichens help break down old wood and put nutrients back into the soil where they can be used by plants. Lichens also take nitrogen from the air and put into the soil so plants can use it. Plants cannot do this themselves.

Habitat:

On a wooden guardrail.

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2 Comments

SarahWhitt
SarahWhitt 11 years ago

This was the first time I'd seen these lil guys. Had been wanting to as well.
They are fascinating & beautiful & I felt real lucky to have spotted them.

DianePlatcoBrooks
DianePlatcoBrooks 11 years ago

Really cool lichen. I've been looking for these here but so far no luck.

SarahWhitt
Spotted by
SarahWhitt

Paintsville, Kentucky, USA

Spotted on Jul 15, 2012
Submitted on Jul 15, 2012

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