An alga (Trentepohlia) on a tree
Introduction
The photograph on this page of An alga (Trentepohlia) on a tree by Lairich Rig as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
An alga (Trentepohlia) on a tree
Image: © Lairich Rig Taken: 6 Jun 2007
Algae of the genus Trentepohlia are commonly found on trees and on rocks (there are several British species). Examined through a hand-lens, this orange covering can be seen to be made up of minute fluffy orange-yellow balls (rather like tiny pom-poms); compare: Image By classification, this is one of the Green Algae, and it has green chlorophyll; that underlying colour is simply masked by the presence of large amounts of orange pigments (carotenoids). Trentepohlia also occurs within many lichens. A lichen is an association of a fungus with at least one other species that performs photosynthesis: in about 60% of lichen species, the latter role is filled by unicellular green algae; in about 30%, by Trentepohlia algae; and in about 10%, by cyanobacteria (such as Nostoc – http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1470400 ).
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Image Location
Latitude
56.011037
Longitude
-3.88906