One of the things I love about walking in the forest is kicking my way through the leaf litter, this colourful pile was below a large beech tree. I love the rich, warm colours glistening from the recent rain.
I spotted the lichen not far away, this plant has always fascinated me with its incredible structure. Of course lichen is not really a plant but a composite organism, they have no roots and gain their nutrients via photosynthesis and they grow on bark or hang from branches as if living on thin air.
Lichens are truly amazing, they are found in all climates and all altitudes and some can even survive inside solid rock.
I have just looked in Wikipedia and discovered that there are around 20,000 different species of lichen and a staggering 6 -8% of the earths surface is covered with lichen.
