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I. Introduction & Histrory (LIM CHAN LEAP )

II. Pronunciation & Etymology (MONY SOPHEAKVATTEY )
III. Growth form (PISETH VICHHEKA)
IV. Reproduction & Dispersal (LU MUYKEANG )
V. Taxonomy & classification (LY SEAVMEY & NGY CHANCHHUNNYNEATH)
VI. Human use (ONG VIRIYAN)
VII. Conclution (LONG CHANRAKSMEY)
VIII.Reference
 I. Introduction
• A lichen looks like a single organism, but it is actually
a symbiotic relationship between different organisms.
It is composed of a fungal partner (mycobiont) and
one or more photosynthetic partners (photobiont).
The photosynthetic partner is generally green algae or
cyanobacteria. There are about 13,500 species of
lichen on the Earth.
• Lichens are found worldwide and occur in a variety of
environmental conditions. A diverse group of
organisms, they can colonize a wide range of surfaces
and are frequently found on tree bark, exposed rock,
and as a part of biological soil crust.
• Lichens have been used by humans as food and as
sources of medicine and dye (substance used to
impart colour to textiles, paper, leather). They also
provide two-thirds of the food supply for the caribou
and reindeer that roam the far northern ranges.
 What is a Lichen?
• Lichens are formed from a combination of a fungal partner
(mycobiont) and an algal partner (phycobiont). The fungal
filaments surround and grow into the algal cells, and
provide the majority of the lichen's physical bulk and shape.
• Lichens can be found growing in almost all parts of the
terrestrial world, from the ice-free polar areas to the tropics,
from tropical rainforests to those desert areas free of mobile
sand dunes. While generally terrestrial a few aquatic lichens
are known. The surfaces (or substrates) on which lichens
grow vary from the natural (such as soil, rock, wood, bone)
to the man-made (bitumen, concrete, glass, canvas, metal -
to give just a few examples)
III. Pronunciation
• In American English, "lichen" is
pronounced the same as the
verb "liken" (/ˈlaɪkən/).
• In British English, both this
pronunciation and one rhyming
with "kitchen" /ˈlɪtʃən/) are
used.
& Etymology
• 1715, from Latin lichen
• English lichen derives from
Greek leichen meaning "tree-
moss, lichen," originally "what
eats around itself.“
II. Growth form
Lichens grow in a wide range of shapes and forms (morphologies).
Common groupings of lichen thallus growth forms are:
1/. fruticose– growing like a tuft or multiple-branched leafless mini-shrub, upright
or hanging down, 3-dimensional branches with nearly round cross section (terete)
or flattened
2/. foliose – growing in 2-dimensional, flat, leaf-like lobes
3/. crustose – crust-like, adhering tightly to a surface (substrate) like a thick coat of
paint
4/. squamulose– formed of small leaf-like scales crustose below but free at the
tips
5/. leprose – powdery
6/. gelatinous – jelly like
7/. filamentous – stringy or like matted hair
8/. byssoid – wispy, like teased wool
9/. structureless
 foliose
Crustose lichen Squamulose lichen
fruticose

gelatinous
Leprose lichen Byssoid lichen
Filamentous lichen
Color
• Color is used in identification. Color changes depending on when a
lichen is wet or dry.
• Color descriptions when used for identification are based on when
the lichen is dry.
• Dry lichens with a cyanobacterium as the photosynthetic partner tend
to be dark grey, brown, or black
• Lichens has in many colors like reds, oranges, yellows, and browns,
dark grey, and black.
Reproduction & Dispersal
Many lichens produce asexually by:
o a piece breaking off and growing on its own
oDispersal of diaspore containing a few algal cells surround by fungal
cells
Reproduction structure appeared as: discs, bumps, or squiggly lines on
the surface of the thallus.
Only fungal partner in lichen reproduce sexually:
o Some lichen fungi (Basidiomycetes or basidiolichens):
produce mushroom-like reproductive structures
resembling their nonlichenized relatives.
o Most lichen fungi ( Ascomycetes or
ascolichens): spores are produced in spore-producing
structures called ascomata.
• Common types of ascomata
• - Apothecia: Usually cups or plate-like discs located on
top surface of lichen thallus but when apothecia are
shaped like squiggly line segments they are called lirellae
• - Perithecia: are shaped like flasks that are immersed in
lichen thallus tissue, that have small hole for spores to
escape the flask and appear like black dots on lichen
surface.
•
Taxonomy and classification of Lichen
 What does Taxonomy mean?
• Taxonomy is the science of classifying ,describing , and naming group of
• organisme.
There are 7 main taxonomic ranks

During the 18th century , Mr. Carl Linnaean was a Swedish

botanist , physician , and zoologisht .
Lichen taxonomy
Classification of Lichen
- Lichen is an intimate association of algae and fungi where two organisms live
in close association with each other. The association is so close that they
appear to be a single organism.
- The algal partner is called phycobiont, whereas the fungal partner is called
mycobiont
- This type of association is called symbiotic relationship.
 Base on Habitat
• Lichen are divided into following categories on the basis of their
habitat:
Saxicolous: Corticolous:
Grow on Grow on
stones or bark of trees
rocks

Parmelia
Peltigera

Terricolous: Lignicolous
Grow on : Grow on
soil wood

Cladonia floerkeana Cyphellum

 Based on the group of fungal partner
Lichen are divided into 2 group of fungal partner : Asocolichen and Basidiolichen.
Asocolichen : Fungus belongs to Asocomycetes . It is further divided into two series
depending on the fruiting body

Pyrenocarpae
Gymnocarpae:
:
Fruiting body
Fruiting body
apothecium
perithecium

Verrcaria
Usnea

 Basidiolichen : Fungal partner is a basidiomycete.

There are only 3 genera which be long to Basidiolichen such
as Cora, Corella and Dityonema.

Dityonema
 Classification based on lichen thallus structure

Thallus lichen: the part of a lichen that is not involved in reproduction , the “the body ”and “ vegetative tissue”

1. Ctrustous lichen

Diploschistes scruposus Ophioparma ventosa

Graphidaceae
Foliose lichens

Parmotrema perlatum Xanthoria parietina

Peltigera membranacea
Teloschistacea
Peltigeraceae

Leprose lichens

Chrysothrix candelaris Caloplaca chrysodeta

Chrysotrichacea Teloschistaceae

Fruticose lichens

Roccella phycopsis Evernia prunastri Xanthoria parietina

Roccellaceae
Parmeliaceae Teloschistacea
 Classification based on distribution of algal and fungal component in the thallus

• Homoisomerous thalli Heteromerous thalli

VI. Human use
 Lichens are eaten by many different cultures across the world. Although some lichens are only
eaten in times of famine.
 Two obstacles are often encountered when eating lichens:
1. Indigestible in Gastrointestinal tract of human:
• Lichen polysaccharides are generally indigestible to humans
2. Toxicity:
• lichens usually contain mildly toxic secondary compounds that should be removed
before eating.
 Very few lichens are poisonous and most poisonous lichens are yellow.
6.1 Food

Iceland moss
Bread
Salad

Pudding

Soup Porridge
6.2 Lichenometry

• Lichenometry is a technique used to determine the age of exposed rock surfaces based on a presumed specific rate of
increase in radial size over time.

• It is used in:

Archaeology Paleontology Geomorphology

• Measuring the diameter (or other size measurement) of the largest lichen of a species on a rock surface indicates the
length of time since the rock surface was first exposed.
6.3 Biodegradation
• Lichens have been shown to degrade polyester resins, as can be seen in archaeological sites in the Roman city of Baelo
Claudia in Spain. Lichens can accumulate several environmental pollutants such as lead, copper, and radionuclides.
6.4 As dyes
• Lichen produce pigment that reduce harmful amounts of sunlight and powerful toxins that kills bacteria.
• The pH indicator in the litmus test is a dye extracted from the lichen Roccella tinctoria by boiling.
• In Highlands of Scotland, traditional cloths were made from lichens including the orange Xanthoria parietina and the
grey foliaceous Parmelia saxatilis
• Lichen belongs to the family Roccellaceae and Orcein dyes have largely been replaced by synthetic version

Roccella tinctoria Xanthoria parietina Parmelia saxatilis Orcein

6.5 Traditional medicine and research

• Tradition medicine of Europe, Peltigera leucophlebia was used as a supposed cure for thrush.

Peltigera leucophlebia Thrush

• Lichens produce metabolites in research for their potential therapeutic or diagnostic value.
• Usnic acid is the most commonly studied metabolite produced by lichens.
• It is also under research as an bactericidal agent against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.
6.6 Aesthetic appeal
• Orange and yellow lichens add to the ambience of desert trees, rock faces, tundras, and rocky seashores. Intricate webs of lichens hanging from tree
branches add a mysterious aspect to forests. Fruticose lichens are used in model railroading and other modeling hobbies as a material for making miniature
trees and shrubs.

6.7 In literature

• The tenth century Arab physician, Al-Tamimi, mentions lichens dissolved in vinegar and rose water being used in his day for the treatment of skin diseases
and rashes.
Conclusion
• Dobson, F.S. (2011). Lichens, an illustrated guide to the British and
Irish species. Slough, England: Richmond Publishing Co.
Ltd. ISBN 9780855463151.
• "Byssoid" means "flax-like" or "silk-like", from the
Greek βύσσος (f.), flax (Linum angustifolium, Linum usitatissimum),
Indian cotton (Gossypium herbaceum), silk; Henry George Liddell,
Robert Scott, Henry Stuart Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th edition,
Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1940, p. 334
• ^ http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/fungi/lichens/lichenmm.html
• http://www.britishlichensociety.org.uk/about-lichens/what-is-a-
lichen
• https://www.nybg.org/bsci/lichens/
• https://www.britannica.com/science/lichen
• http://www.britishlichensociety.org.uk/about-lichens/what-is-a-
lichen