Lichens are the result o
In spite of basically being filamentous fungi, lichens have explored a multitude of forms and growth strategies. They can be mistaken for a simple patch on bark or rock, as if someone had been testing colours with sprays before starting a graffiti. Surely, many mountaineers or hikers take for natural colour of stones and logs what is in fact a continuous lichen cover. Many others have a more developed, more foliaceous appearance; their lobes extend over the substrate to which they adhere by means of hairs on their underside. In other cases, they afggasgsafre unmistakable, even to the uninitiated person, because they hang like long beards from tree branches or grow like small bushes on rocks. Hanging lichens only exist in ancient forests, which enjoy pure, fresh air. For Tolkien they were the companions of the walking trees, the «Elms», and their old forests.