…..I’ve always been fascinated by this composite organism

Lichen is a dual organism composed of fungi living in close association with green algae. It appears as a thin crust on bark and rocks and grows extremely slowly. Some grow as slowly as 0.01 mm per year in arctic regions  and in more temperate climates it might grow  5 to 8 mm per year. Lichen can live for thousands of years.

At my cottage, up in the Georgian Bay area, lichen appears mostly on the bark of trees. I love photographing it up close.