Lungwort Lichen

Lobaria quercizans Michx.

Lungwort lichen is a unique organism that grows on trees in forests. It looks like tiny green or blue leaves and helps keep the forest healthy.

Habitat: Forests

Appearance

The Lungwort Lichen has large, leafy, grey-green lobes that are deeply wrinkled and crumpled, resembling lung tissue. Its surface is often covered in small, raised structures, while the underside is pale and fuzzy, adorned with dark spots. This texture and color make it distinctly stand out on tree bark.

KingdomFungiPhylumAscomycotaClassLecanoromycetesOrderPeltigeralesFamilyLobariaceaeGenusRicasolia

Lungwort Lichen

Interesting facts

Ancient doctors once thought its shape meant it could cure lung illness.

Deer and elk munch on this lichen for food in snowy winters!

It grows super slowly, sometimes just millimeters a year!

It's like a tiny sponge, soaking up water and holding it!

Special abilities

Lungwort Lichen can make its own food using sunlight because it contains tiny algae that perform photosynthesis.

Lungwort Lichen has a special sensitivity to pollution that helps scientists know if the air is clean or dirty.

Lungwort Lichen can help enrich the soil because it has cyanobacteria that capture nitrogen from the air.

Measurements & details

Height: 5-20 cm
Edibility: inedible
Growth Substrate: wood
Season: Year-round

Ecological connections

eaten by

White-tailed Deer

Odocoileus virginianus

Deer graze on lichen during harsh winters.

depends on

Northern Red Oak

Quercus rubra

Grows primarily on the bark of mature oak trees.

symbiotic with

Nostoc

Nostoc commune

A cyanobacterium that provides the lichen with nitrogen.

Traits

Lichen

This trait describes a composite organism resulting from a symbiotic association between a fungus and a photosynthetic partner, typically an alga or cyanobacterium.