Our fathers did eat manna in the desert

The Old Testament describes how the Israelites survived on Manna during their long journey out of Egypt.

Exodus 16:35
And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.

There are various theories as to what manna was. One widespread identification is that manna was the thalli of the desert lichen Lecanora esculenta. There might be some truth in this as the species is used as a substitute for maize in the Eurasian Steppe. The thalli are light and during drought years the organism may be broken apart by the wind and blown across the land as in the Biblical description of manna raining from heaven.

We are currently clean out of manna here in the far north and so must make do with a photograph of a lichen covered twig. Zoomify to fully appreciate the beauty of these tiny organisms.