A Magnified Look at Microlichens

By: Rikke Reese Næsborg, P,h.D., Tucker Lichenologist

Like mushrooms, lichens produce spores in specialized structures. In this close-up cross section of the spore-producing structure of the microlichen aromatic toniniopsis (Toniniopsis aromatica), the green near the top is the structure’s exterior, and the red-brown layer near the bottom is the foundation, which supports sacks where the fungal spores are produced.

Look carefully in the white bottom-left corner — can you spot one of the sausage-shaped spores? It is 0.0006 of an inch (.015 millimeters) long, which is four to five times smaller than a human hair is wide. This kind of tiny detail is often the only way researchers are able to identify a species of microlichen.