A vivid orange-yellow leaf-like lichen growing on tree bark, rocks, and roofs around the world, often noticed for the cheerful color it gives ordinary stones.
Description
Xanthoria is not a true plant but a lichen, a symbiosis of fungus and alga. Its rosettes of overlapping yellow-orange lobes brighten dry sunny surfaces from coastal rocks to graveyard headstones.
Cultivation
Lichens cannot be cultivated easily and grow extremely slowly, sometimes only a millimetre per year. Xanthoria tolerates nitrogen-rich settings such as bird perches and farm walls.
Uses
A favorite subject of lichenologists, xanthoria has been used to indicate air pollution levels and historically yielded a yellow dye for traditional textiles in coastal Europe.
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Xanthoria starts with X and ends with A. Browse other plants along the same letter.
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