general characters of Lichens
- Lichens are dual organism from by the symbiotic association of fungus and an algae they are also known as composite plants.
- The fungus is usually ascomycetes but some time a basidiomycetes. the algal patterns may be green algal and blue green algae.
- A special nutritional relationship exhibit between the facultative fungus and photo autotrophic algae. The fungus and the algal together appears as a single plants.
- The lichens includes four hundred genera and sixteen hundred species the study of lichens known as lichenology the scientist associated with lichens is known as lichinologist.
- Lichen are group of composite plant each lichen consist of fungus and a algae. The fungal components of lichen is known as mycobiont and the algal component is known as phycobiont.
- The mycobiont and the phycobiont live together in a intimate association and forms a lichen. The association is called as symbiotic association.
- In most of the genera of lichen the mycobiont/ascomycetes fungus they are popularly known as lichens in three genera of lichen the fungus component is basidiomycetes fungus they are known as basidiolichens.
- The algal component of lichen may be green algae or blue green algae. About twenty six species of algae are found as phycobionts most of the lichen have green algae as phycobionts.
- About eight genera of blue green algae are known to occur in lichen. The most important among them are nostoc then cytonema and rivularia.