Trentepohlia

Description:

Trentepohlia is a genus of filamentous green algae, living free on terrestrial supports such as tree trunks and wet rocks or symbiotically in lichens. The genus Trentepohlia would not, at first glance, be taken as a green alga. Free-living species are mostly yellow to bright orange or red-brown in colour, due to the orange pigment, haematochrome (β-carotene), which usually hides the green of the chlorophyll. The genus is terrestrial, commonly on rocks, walls, tree bark and, especially in the tropics, on leaf surfaces. The haematochrome protects the alga's chlorophyll in these subaerial habitats. Trentepohlia species form associations with fungal hyphae, and are widespread phycobionts in lichens.

Habitat:

Spotted on a wet granite rock, in a old pre-Roman "castro" remains, Castro de Coaña, Asturias, Spain.

Notes:

Camera Model: NIKON D300. Exposure Time: 1/60 sec.; f/40; ISO Speed Rating: 800. Exposure Bias: 0 EV. Focal Length: 90.0 mm. Flash fired