Liking Lichens

Last night we went along to the Edinburgh Natural History Society to hear a talk on Lichenology given by lichenologist and ecologist, Anthony Taylor. It was a fascinating talk following Taylor round his travels across Scotland looking for lichens, concentrating on the rare and unusual lichens he has seen in various places. He also briefly outlined the basic biology of lichens and talked about how he got interested in what is a relatively obscure and difficult group of organisms.

I've always been fascinated by lichens (a blend of fungi and algae or cyanobacteria), they're very beautiful, as you can see on this tree trunk in Colinton Dell by the Water of Leith, which is festooned with lichens and mosses

They are very difficult to identify though! I have struggled to identify any of the species that I've seem and looking through the field guide to British lichens at last night's talk only made me more confused as so many species look very similar! A very interesting group of species though.

The Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh currently have a (rather underwhelming) exhibition on lichens on display in the Gateway Gallery.

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