A lichen (pronounced “liken”) may look like a plant, but it is not a plant or even related to plants, even though some of them have plant names. This special life form makes its own food from sunlight, air, water and minerals in its environment. It grows mostly in the northern areas of Alaska and other parts of the world’s cold spots. Though it may appear to be dead, it contains starch and serves as a valuable food for man as well as animals. One kind is called reindeer grass, as in many places it is the only food available for reindeer during freezing weather. There is another kind, called Iceland moss, that people in Iceland use for making bread. Lichens often cover acres of marshy ground called “tundra.” It also grows on trunks and branches of trees. In other places, it is a covering over huge rocks where it sometimes displays bright coloring.
The Creator has designed lichen for purposes other than food. Though it does not require soil to grow, over long periods of time it will turn parts of the rocks it covers into soil. Here’s how that happens: The thin but tough roots growing from it penetrate tiny cracks in the rock. These roots produce an acid that helps to break off tiny particles of the rock. This begins the soil-making process. Dust from the surface of the rock, along with decayed lichen, mixes with the tiny rock particles. This combination makes new soil that will, sooner or later, wash out in a rainstorm onto the soil below. This is such a tiny amount that it may hardly seem important. However, when a rock is completely covered with lichen, over centuries of time it helps not only to add to the soil, but to enrich it as well.
Most of the year there is no rainfall to nourish plants in those areas, but the lichen gets along very well without it. It gets enough moisture from the air itself and the dew clinging to it.
Once established, a lichen continues its slow growth, regardless of the weather or apparent lack of nourishment. Scientists inform us that this amazing life form may live a thousand years or more, growing steadily even where winters are fierce. At times it is the only food available for some of the animals living there or migrating through.
The earth certainly is filled with many, many wonders of God’s creation beyond number, whether we look at mountains, deserts, tundra, great forests, or rivers, lakes and oceans. As you look at any of these or other wonders, remember that they didn’t just come by chance. All have been specially designed for their places in our world and preserved there by the Lord God Himself.
ML-05/24/2015