Lichens and Moss: What’s the difference? Who cares? Who should?
Thinking Citizen Blog: Wednesday is Climate Change, the Environment, and Sustainability Day
Today’s Topic: Lichens and Moss: what’s the difference? who cares? who should? Mosses are plants. Lichens are not. So if lichens aren’t plants, what are they? Sandwiches. Fungi-algae sandwiches. Or in some cases, fungi-cyanobacteria sandwiches. Technically they are composite organisms living in symbiosis. The fungus provides the moisture needed by the algae which make the food for the fungus. Moss may be plants but they have no flowers and no roots. Aesthetic enhancers or unsightly blemishes? Your call. Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
LICHENS COME IN MANY FORMS AND COLORS (see first link below)
1. Fruticose — shrubby or bushy.
2. Foliose — leaf like, flat, with a top and bottom.
3. Crustose — crusty, clings to surface, no visible bottom.
NB: Just to confuse you, some forms of lichens have “moss” in their names. For example: “reindeer moss” or “Icelandic moss.”
MOSS: often form a thick carpet in forests. Technical name: bryophyta
1. Non-vascular — no water bearing xylem or vessels.
2. No flowers, no seeds.
3. Absorb water and moisture through their leaves.
NB: If you don’t have a compass, and the sun isn’t shining, and you wonder which direction is north, the location of moss will tell you. Moss like shade. So found on north side of trees and rocks in the Northern Hemisphere and the south side in the Southern. MOSS — Multiple human uses from Japan to Mexico to Finland to London
1. Japanese gardens: adds “calm, age, and stillness.”
2. Nordic peoples: used as insulation for dwellings and even boots.
3. Mexico — used as Christmas decoration.
NB: Now a component of “green roofs” and “green walls.” Apparently, the moss-made “City Trees” of London have the pollution-reducing power of 275 normal trees. Are they the world’s “first biotech pollution filter”?
‘CityTrees’ are permanently installed in London to tackle filthy air
