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| Lichen Galaxies |
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Lichen Galaxies
There is a chair outside the front door; a place where I sit and contemplate whenever it is raining and I can't wander about without getting into full rain gear. Beside the chair is a stone with another stone placed on top of it, actually balanced on it, and I have been looking with wonder at the mosses and lichens growing on it. One of the lichens is a wonderful mustard color and the shapes it forms are rather like a coral reef; while the whole pattern of lichens and mosses on the stone is like a galaxy. These yellow lichens are about the size of a match head, never seeming to grow as large as the grayish ones. I would love to know how they came to be yellow. Only a very few stones in the garden are marked with this yellow fairy dust.
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Hi Liz
ReplyDeleteI think that the yellow lichen derives it colour from sulpher dioxide. It may have a chromogenic capability. It's something like the chromogenic bacteria in dental plaque that stains teeth yellow, orange/brown, or green. Even with a sharp and well honed scaler, It's a bitch to remove.
I prefer your reference to fairy dust as opposed to the scientific stuff.
Walshie
Hi Walshie, Thanks a million for the info, I definitely don't want these colors on my teeth. The green sounds particularly repulsive. These are so beautiful on the stones. Are they fungus like shapes in plague?
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