What is your favorite lichen fact? Personally, mine is that lichen is actually a three-way symbiosis!
Not to like, rain on your parade, but like, only kinda. Do you mean like, lichens can have a three-way with fungi-algae-cyanobacteria? Or the mystery third symbiont of bacteria and/or yeast? Because if the first, just know that most lichens are a two-way between a fungus and an algae OR a fungus and a cyanobacteria, and only a rare few are a three-way (and that is really really cool). And if you mean the latter, I only challenge that because, well, find me an organism that lives WITHOUT bacteria/unicellular yeast or other little bitty critters inside it. OK I know they probably exist somewhere, but most macroorganisms are living soups hosting a slew of microorganisms. So maybe that is my favorite lichen fact--they are a great example of the interconnectivity that exists between nearly ALL living things. We are all symbiotic, man, if you get thinking about it. In lichens it is in your face, but our own mitochondria started out as a symbiont that we just integrated into our system and became a part of us--and we have a lot of other microorganisms facilitating our natural bodily functions RIGHT NOW. Life is amazing.
