ruthhelen
Natural geometry
85/365: 26 March 2009 - Back to the rock collection. This is a piece of quartzite from the sea cliffs west of Tongue in the north west of Scotland. The geometric patterns aren't the rock itself, but colonies of lichen. These remarkable organisms are a symbiotic relationship between an alga - which photosynthesises and thus provides energy - and a fungus - which provides the infrastructure (and the many wonderful forms that lichen take). Neither partner can survive without the other. They are one of the oldest organisms on this planet and can live in very inhospitable environments.
Natural geometry
85/365: 26 March 2009 - Back to the rock collection. This is a piece of quartzite from the sea cliffs west of Tongue in the north west of Scotland. The geometric patterns aren't the rock itself, but colonies of lichen. These remarkable organisms are a symbiotic relationship between an alga - which photosynthesises and thus provides energy - and a fungus - which provides the infrastructure (and the many wonderful forms that lichen take). Neither partner can survive without the other. They are one of the oldest organisms on this planet and can live in very inhospitable environments.