Pictures of Lichens
Lichen Pictures
High Resolution Pictures of Lichens
In 1963 I had a summer job working for a biology professor whose specialty was lichens. As part of the job we spent six weeks traveling around the western USA collecting lichens. I got to meet many of the established lichenologists of the day and see a lot of the USA.
Some day I will see if I still have any of the color slides I took on that lichen collecting trip and see about digitizing them.
Although I never did any additional lichen studies I still think they are interesting plants and I have collected a variety of pictures of various lichen species and the habitats they survive in. This site has my best lichen pictures, some taken with my new 18 megapixel Canon Rebel T21.
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Orange Lichen On An Ash TreeThis orange lichen is growing on an ash tree near Chama, New Mexico, USA. The elevation is about 7,000’ and the area is an open Ponderosa Parkland. The tress are slow growing because of the dry conditions. Click the thumbnail to see … MORE>>> |
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Lichen Growing on Ponderosa Pine BarkThis is another lichen growing in the same location as the two pictures at the top of this page. I often wondered if you could figure out how old lichens were and something about their rate of growth by looking for them … MORE>>> |
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Usnea on PinonThis picture shows a lichen from the Genus Usnea growing on a Pinon Pine branch. It’s a very distinctive lichen and for some reason the name has always stuck with me. If you take one of the “branches” of lichen and gently pull it apart … MORE>>> |
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Wet Lichen Color ChangesOne nice thing I learned on my lichen collecting field trip was that lichens often change color when they get wet. For that reason we didn’t bother trying to collect in the rain. Another graduate student I knew wasn’t so luck. They were studying … MORE>>> |
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Lichens on Pinon PinePinon Pine grows where it is hotter and dryer than Ponderosa pine can tolerate. So the lichens on this bark are able to handle a harsher environment. |