Notes from The Arran Naturalist

All about Lichens….

Last week the National Trust Rangers reported on a recent visit by Lichenologists to Arran. Members of the British Lichen Society held one of their annual field trips here, and their work will provide the Rangers with a list of species they have identified. This will help to track changes in the future. The Rangers write, “Lichens are here from seashore to summit and our clean air and plentiful rain means we have a wide variety of species, including those found only in our temperate rainforests. Lichens are a symbiosis of algae or cyanobacteria with fungi species and can take many forms from crusts on rocks to leaflike structures on plants or even powder like surfaces.”

Lichens have been a source of both interest and human use for 100s of years and in the following article from The Arran Naturalist, the remarkable properties of these fascinating and unassuming plants are explored, including their dyeing properties. Issue No.4 Spring 1980. Journal of The Arran Natural History Society. 

Featured image credit: British Lichen Society