Rock-shield Lichen

Rock-shield Lichen (Xanthoparmelia). A lichen that I commonly see up here growing on rocks. An incredible organism that is a symbiotic partnership between a fungus and an alga.

I’ve become fascinated with lichens, but still I’m struggling to understand them. Not a plant, not an animal but an organism. There are about 3,600 species of lichens in North America, and more are being discovered every year.

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Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.

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