COMMON ALGAE, FERNS

AND LICHENS
A Catalog

ALGAE
Algae are simple plants that can range from the microscopic (microalgae), to
large seaweeds (macro algae), such as giant kelp more than one hundred feet
in length. Microalgae include both cyanobacteria, (similar to bacteria, and
formerly called blue-green algae) as well as green, brown and red algae.
(There are more varieties of microalgae, but these are the main ones.)

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FERNS
Ferns are a very ancient family of plants: early fern fossils predate the beginning of the
Mesozoic era, 360 million years ago. They are older than land animals and far older than
the dinosaurs. They were thriving on Earth for two hundred million years before the
flowering plants evolved.
Most ferns are leafy plants that grow in moist areas under forest canopy. They are
"vascular plants" with well-developed internal vein structures that promote the flow of
water and nutrients. Ferns reproduce from spores and an intermediate plant stage called a
gametophyte.

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LICHENS
A lichen is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria (or
both) living among filaments of a fungus in a symbiotic relationship. The
combined life form has properties that are very different from the properties of
its component organisms. Lichens come in many colors, sizes, and forms. The
properties are sometimes plant-like, but lichens are not plants.

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