need a better understanding of lychen

Question

anonymous · Answer

Lichen

anonymous · Answer

Lichens are unusual creatures. A lichen is not a single organism the way most other living things are, but rather it is a combination of two organisms which live together intimately. Most of the lichen is composed of fungal filaments, but living among the filaments are algal cells, usually from a green alga or a cyanobacterium.

In many cases the fungus and the alga which together make the lichen may each be found living in nature without its partner, but many other lichens include a fungus which cannot survive on its own -- it has become dependent on its algal partner for survival. In all cases though, the appearance of the fungus in the lichen is quite different from its morphology as a separately growing individual.

anonymous · Answer

@gupta.prajjwal Please cite your source! Answer cut and pasted from here: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/fungi/lichens/lichens.html