Minuscule Forest on Granite
Varieties of crustose lichen cling to granite substrate.
This spring morning, we are in the Sandia range of central New Mexico, 2010 meters above sea level and not far from the Embudo trailhead. Among splendid vistas, it's easy to overlook the tiny wonders, but this time, we focus closely. Lichen, the Wikipedia tells us, is a composite organism arising from cyanobacteria among filiments of fungi. The cyanobacteria provide the color.
Minuscule Forest on Granite
Varieties of crustose lichen cling to granite substrate.
This spring morning, we are in the Sandia range of central New Mexico, 2010 meters above sea level and not far from the Embudo trailhead. Among splendid vistas, it's easy to overlook the tiny wonders, but this time, we focus closely. Lichen, the Wikipedia tells us, is a composite organism arising from cyanobacteria among filiments of fungi. The cyanobacteria provide the color.