Symbiotic Relations In the Desert

I remember Mimi asking me as a child
to make a lens by curling my fingers
around to my thumb. I closed one eye
and, with the other, looked through my
hand lens. I played with scale. Blades of
grass were transformed into trees, a gravel
bed became a boulder field. Small riverlets
pouring over moss became the great rivers
of our continent. My world was my own creation.
from:Refuge
by: Terry Tempst Williams

Now that Im finally back to hiking in complete comfort,with my beloved Keens snugly strapped to my feet....(oh how I missed them while they lay on the mud room floor in Salt Lake for a week!!)I am once again completely enjoying plowing through our red sandy washes.
When my piggies are happy, Im free to enjoy the scenery again. Instead of worrying so much about all the sand that can and does accumulate in regular hiking shoes, I can kick the sand free with one quick wiggle and move on to answering some of the more fascinating questions that fellow hikers ask.
One common inquiry we hear, "What's that green stuff on the rocks?" And before I even look in the direction they are pointing, I know exactly what they are referring to.


What they are seeing is our beautiful crustose or fruticose lichens which grow so well in this area. Not only do these lichen come in a wide variety of greens, but lichen can also be oranges and yellows and tans.
I've learned that a lichen is not a single plant or life form, but a union between a fungus and an algae, or an occasional bacteria. The fungus aspect of the 'plant' give it its shape and helps it reproduce. And at the risk of getting a little technical, the fungus doesnt have chlorophyll, so it cant 'eat,' so the algae feeds
it through photosynthesis. (I remember that word from high school!!) The fungus finds and stores water and food for the algae. The algae processes sunlight for the both of them. The two inhabit a tiny world made better because they have each other!! Together these two can survive almost anything. It survives and thrives in the HOT, dry, and barren places that no other life might be found. The pretty lichen we have around here grow on hot rocks of all places. And while they reside on a rock they work hard at breaking down their home, and gradually turn the into....sand!! The sand I gather between my toes!! Of course this doesnt happen overnight. It takes eons of time for even a little soil to form around a lichen. And when the timing is right and the circumstance are perfect, maybe a small flower will grow there in that shared speck of soil.

Doesnt the desert look just a little bit different to you now? I know I appreciate this beautiful little organism so much more than before!!
And arent you inspired to make your little bitty corner of the world a little more comforting and inviting for the good life!!??
thanks Sojourns for this fun information!!