Lichen
Did you know that lichen – which covers around 6% of the Earth’s surface – is a symbiotic composite organism. It emerges from algae or cyanobacteria living among the filaments of fungi. Both organisms benefit – protection, moisture and nutrients in exchange for carbohydrates produced by photosynthesis. The co-operating organisms can live separately, but in a different form. When they collaborate as lichen, they are neither plant nor fungus. Lichen is remarkable in other ways too: it can survive the vacuum of space and long periods of drought. It’s also one of nature’s most beautiful colour palettes. You’ve got to love lichen.
— Wayne Visser
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From Purpose Inspired: Reflections on Conscious Living, Volume 3. Buy on Lulu ↗