Passage 1 Lichens, probably the handiest of all plants, live where virtually nothing else can not just on rugged mountain peaks but aiso on sunbaked desert rocks They are usually the first life to appear on a mountainside that has been scraped bare by an avalanche.
2. Unlike other members of the plant kingdon. lichens are actually a partnership Derween two plants. The framework of a licnen is usually a nerwork of minute nairlike fungus that anchors the plant, The other component is an elga(simiiar to the green film of Plant life that grows on stagnant pools) that is distributed throughout the fungus. Being green plants, algao are capable of photosynthesis that is, using energy from the Sun to manufacture their own food. The fungi arc believed to supply water, minerals, and physicai support to the partnership. 3.Lichens are famous for their ability to survive through water snortage when water is scarce(as is often the case on a mountain), licnens may become dormant and remain in that condition for prolonged periods of time. Some lichens can even grow where there is no rain at a surviving on only occasional dew the moisture that condenses on the surface of the plants at night Unlike most other plants, lichens are iule affected by the strong ultraviolet rays in the mountains.