2020-3 Nature Up Close

And here it is when we zoom back, as seen in our lichen terrarium in the Nature Center. It's a lichen, called British Soldiers (Cladonia cristatella). You can see it on the far left. It gets it's common name, as you probably guessed, from it's resemblance to the red coats which the British soldiers used to wear.

Lichens are interesting. They are fungi within which algea live. So they are really a couple of organisms working intimately together. The algae photosynthesizes and creates food while the fungus, which consumes the food, provides the protected moist envirinment in which the algae thrives.