Lichen

This picture is worth clicking on right away, to see it in a larger size. This is a beautiful bench, and it is even more beautiful because it is covered in lichen. Gee what ARE lichen? I looked it up in Wikipedia: "Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic association of a fungus (the mycobiont) with a photosynthetic partner (the photobiont or phycobiont), usually either a green alga (commonly Trebouxia) or cyanobacterium (commonly Nostoc)." There, aren't you glad I did look it up? Apparently the location makes a huge difference on whether or not lichen will grow. There was a lot of it on rocks in Connecticut on my grandparents farm. This bench is in Montauk, and clearly a perfect place for lichen. Of course I would never sit on this bench, because I wouldn't want to mess up the lichen.