Manchester Democrat., 1909-01-06
THE STORY OF THE LIcHEN.

TIE ol0nI
Little folk who like to know about
the strange things that nature does
will surely want to know about, the
alichens. for they are among the
straneest OF natures children, Most
Of us. probably, do not notice them
in our country rambles. We are, look
ing for larger and more conspicuous
things, and we pass by these "humb-
lest creatures Of the woods. But
when we learn to see them. We shall
wonder why we never noticed before
how beautiful they are. They have
NO flowers. IL is true, but they them.
selves are often as lovely rs flowers.
Many OF them are 80 beautifully col.
ored that they have been much used
in, the manufacture Of dyes. Some
Of them grow into tiny and delicately
brnnched trees. Others fioat from the
branohes Of real trees In feathery
nlumes. Some form little scarlet
cups that the fairies might drink ont
Of. The writing lfchen traces sdc.
sigma mon trees and stones that look
ike ancient inscriptions. The map
lichen looks for all the world like a
man. with the countries outlined in
black, and black dots for the towns.
We can look for lichens Just as
well in. winter as In summer Winter
and summer are much alike to them.
They do not have to put on slumb-
er robe like the trees, or hide them.
selves underground like the tulip and
the daffodil. Neither winters cold
nor summer,s drouth can hurt them.
They lust dry up. and then, though
they appear to be quite dead, they
are perfectly we'll and comfortable,
and viii be ready for business again
az soon as they get q little water.
The ,ichens are the most independ.
ant nlants that grow. Climate makes
no difference to them. They can
grow In the tropics or within the
Arctic Circle. But cold seems to
agree with them better than heat.
and they grow further north and
+ further south and higher up ON the
mountains than any other plant.
AS for soil, they don't need any At
all. They can grow ON the face OF
bare rock or even on naked glass.
The Laplanders, who would scarcely
be able to live without the reindeer
lichen, say "a ibounteous Providence
sends us bread out Of the very
stopes.v ~
Il The iichen makes Its own coil. Tiny
r. a.Af - = = ,yxx ~ koln
microscope to see Tit can eat
rocks. It does this by hrst dissolving
the fiinty substance with acids which
1t manufactures. It also gets food
from the air, like other plants, and
from the rain and dew or any other
water that It can get. It has a great
power Of attracting water II 1t .
anywhere In the neighborhood, and In
this water some food is always dis.
solved. In some cases the lichen
seems to live entirely ON air and
water, without taking anything from
the surafce ON which it rests. The
only thing 1t seems to be particular
about is the kind OF air 1t breathes.
1t doesn't like large cities or manu-
featuring towns, and where we find
It hourishing we may be sure the
air is pure.
Even time does not seem to affect
the lichens. Other plans five for
weeks or months or years. Lichen
may live for centuries. There are
Iiehens that are probably older than
the Oldest trees, and 90 far as. we
can see there is no reason-barring
accidents why they should not live
forever.
But the strangest thing about the
-lichen has yet to be told It Is
( not one plant, but two. partnership
between e fungus and plant called
an alga, relative Of the plant that
forms green slime on damp stone
and woodwork. It ID even possible
% separate these two plants and
erplaing Why the lIcten IL 80 inde--
pendent. Cooperation is usually =
good thing, and together these TWO
plants can do what neither q them
could DO alone. the fungus alone
is the most helpless OF plants II can
not even manufacture It's own food,