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The common orange lichen is not always orange. Its colour depends on light and moisture. In full sun it builds up a pigment that shields it from strong light, turning it deep orange, while in shade it stays a soft yellow-green. When wet, its outer layer becomes translucent, letting the green of the algae inside show through, so the same lichen can look quite different after rain.
The small cups crowded across its surface are where the fungus produces spores. Each new lichen must find the right algal partner to form again, which is one reason lichens can be slow to spread.
Its yellow colour once gave it a place in folk medicine. Following the old belief that a plant's appearance revealed its use, it was given as a remedy for jaundice, which turns the skin yellow. Today it is one of the most familiar lichens in Britain, thriving on twigs, walls and fences wherever the air carries extra nitrogen.
The common orange lichen is not always orange. Its colour depends on light and moisture. In full sun it builds up a pigment that shields it from strong light, turning it deep orange, while in shade it stays a soft yellow-green. When wet, its outer layer becomes translucent, letting the green of the algae inside show through, so the same lichen can look quite different after rain.
The small cups crowded across its surface are where the fungus produces spores. Each new lichen must find the right algal partner to form again, which is one reason lichens can be slow to spread.
Its yellow colour once gave it a place in folk medicine. Following the old belief that a plant's appearance revealed its use, it was given as a remedy for jaundice, which turns the skin yellow. Today it is one of the most familiar lichens in Britain, thriving on twigs, walls and fences wherever the air carries extra nitrogen.