Lichen growing on bark

This beautiful lichen caught my interest, the pattern is so beautiful. Some scientists believe that lichens could cover about one seventh of the earth’s surface.  For 150 years people thought that lichens were defined by a symbiotic relation between a fungus and an algae. However, very recently, it was discovered that there can be another partner involved and sometimes a fourth.  The National Geographic have a super video to explain this, ‘What’s in a Lichen. How scientists got it wrong for 150 years’.
Lockdown has certainly made me more conscious of the mini worlds around us of which I know so very little.