This

glossary A glossary (from , ''glossa''; language, speech, wording), also known as a vocabulary or clavis, is an alphabetical list of Term (language), terms in a particular domain of knowledge with the definitions for those terms. Traditionally, a gloss ...

provides an overview of

terms Term may refer to: Language *Terminology, context-specific nouns or compound words **Technical term (or ''term of art''), used by specialists in a field ***Scientific terminology, used by scientists *Term (argumentation), part of an argument in d ...

used in the description of

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

s, composite

organism An organism is any life, living thing that functions as an individual. Such a definition raises more problems than it solves, not least because the concept of an individual is also difficult. Many criteria, few of them widely accepted, have be ...

s arising from

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

cyanobacteria Cyanobacteria ( ) are a group of autotrophic gram-negative bacteria that can obtain biological energy via oxygenic photosynthesis. The name "cyanobacteria" () refers to their bluish green (cyan) color, which forms the basis of cyanobacteri ...

living

symbiotically Symbiosis (Ancient Greek : living with, companionship < : together; and ''bíōsis'': living) is any type of a close and long-term

filaments of multiple

fungus A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

species.

Erik Acharius Erik Acharius (10 October 1757 – 14 August 1819) was a Swedish botanist who pioneered the Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy of lichens and is known as the "father of lichenology". Acharius was famously the last pupil of Carl Linnaeus. Life Ac ...

, known as the "father of lichenology," coined many lichen terms still in use today around the turn of the 18th century. Before that, only a couple of lichen-specific terms had been proposed. Johann Dillenius introduced ' in 1742 to describe the cup-shaped structures associated with genus ''

Cladonia ''Cladonia'' is a genus of moss-like lichenized fungi in the family Cladoniaceae. They are the primary food source for reindeer/caribou. ''Cladonia'' species are of economic importance to reindeer-herders, such as the Sami in Scandinavia or th ...

'', while in 1794

Michel Adanson Michel Adanson (7 April 17273 August 1806) was an 18th-century French botanist and naturalist who traveled to Senegal to study flora and fauna. He proposed a "natural system" of taxonomy distinct from the binomial system forwarded by Linnaeus. ...

used ' for the furrowed fruitbodies of the genus '' Graphis''. Acharius introduced numerous terms to describe lichen structures, including , , , , , , and . In 1825, Friedrich Wallroth published the first of his multi-volume work ''Naturgeschichte der Flechten'' ("Natural History of Lichens"), in which he proposed an alternative terminology based largely on

roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusin ...

from the

Greek language Greek (, ; , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic languages, Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It is native to Greece, Cyprus, Italy (in Calabria and Salento), south ...

. His work, presented as an alternative to that of Acharius (of whom he was critical) was not well received, and the only terms he proposed to gain widespread acceptance were and , and , and , the last of which remained in use until the 1960s. Until about 1850, there were 21 terms for features of the lichen thallus that remain in use today. The increasing availability of the

optical microscope The optical microscope, also referred to as a light microscope, is a type of microscope that commonly uses visible light and a system of lenses to generate magnified images of small objects. Optical microscopes are the oldest design of micros ...

as an aid to identifying and characterizing lichens led to the creation of new terms to describe structures that were previously too small to be visualized. Contributions were made by Julius von Flotow (e.g. ),

Edmond Tulasne Louis René Étienne Tulasne, a.k.a. Edmond Tulasne (12 September 1815 – 22 December 1885) was a French botanist and mycologist born in Azay-le-Rideau. He originally studied law at Poitiers, but his interest later turned to botany. As a youn ...

(e.g ), and

William Nylander William Andrew Michael Junior Nylander Altelius (born 1 May 1996) is a Swedish professional ice hockey Forward (ice hockey), forward for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nylander was selected by the Maple Leafs in t ...

(e.g. , ).

Gustav Wilhelm Körber Gustav Wilhelm Körber (10 January 1817, Jelenia Góra, Hirschberg – 27 January 1885, Breslau) was a Silesian-German lichenologist and a professor at the University of Wrocław, University of Breslau. He specialized in the flora of Central Europ ...

, an early proponent of using spore structure as a in lichen taxonomy, introduced , , and "polari-dyblastae", later anglicized to "polari-bilocular" and then shortened to . In the next five decades that followed, many other additions were made to the repertoire of lichen terms, subsequent to the increased understanding of lichen anatomy and physiology made possible by microscopy. For whatever reasons, there were not any new terms (still currently used) introduced from the period 1906 to 1945, when

Gustaf Einar Du Rietz Gustaf Einar Du Rietz (25 April 1895 – 7 March 1967) was a Swedish botanist and lichenologist. His research interests included plant ecology, lichen taxonomy, and biogeography. He was a leading figure in the Uppsala school of phytosociology ...

proposed replacing and with and ; all four terms remain in use. In some cases, older terminology became obsolete as better understanding of the nature of the fungal–algal relationship led to changes in their terminology. For example, after

Gunnar Degelius Gunnar Bror Fritiof Degelius (né Nilsson until 1932; 27 January 1903 – 22 July 1993) was a Swedish lichenologist. Between the publications of his first and final scientific papers, Degelius had a 70-year-long research career. While he was b ...

objected to the use of for the algal partner, George Scott proposed the use of and for lichen components, recommendations that were generally accepted by lichenologists. This glossary includes terms defining features of lichens unique to their composite nature, such as the major components the two major components of lichens (' and '); specialized structures in lichen physiology; descriptors of types of lichens; two- and three-dimensional shapes used to describe spores and other lichen structures; terms of position and shape;

prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word. Particularly in the study of languages, a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the word to which it is affixed. Prefixes, like other affixes, can b ...

es and

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...

es commonly used to form lichen terms; terminology used in methods for the chemical identification of lichens; the names of 22 standard insoluble lichen

pigments A pigment is a powder used to add or alter color or change visual appearance. Pigments are completely or nearly solubility, insoluble and reactivity (chemistry), chemically unreactive in water or another medium; in contrast, dyes are colored sub ...

and their associated reference species; and "everyday" words that have a specialized meaning in lichenology. The list also includes a few historical terms that have been supplanted or are now considered obsolete. Familiarity with these terms is helpful for understanding older literature in the field.

A

B

C

D

E

F

Foliicolous lichens on palmetto leaf - Flickr - pellaea

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

Umbilicaria phaea apothecia - Flickr - pellaea

P

Menegazzia pertransita - 2008 - BC Myles

R

S

T

U

V

X

Z

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * :: :: :: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{refend Lichens Glossaries of biology Wikipedia glossaries using description lists

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

U

V

X

Z

See also

Citations

Sources