Stony lichen

S. VEDAVATHY

Stone flowers are greenish living organisms which grow on trees and stones. Known as 'lichens', they appear to light up in various colours and shapes after the rains.

Lichens are called "stone flowers" in English, rathi puvvulu in Telugu, pathar ka phool in Hindi, Kalpasi in Tamil and shaileya in Sanskrit.

These flowers , the pioneers to higher life forms, can grow anywhere in the world and can exist in extreme conditions. There are about 20,000 species of lichen in the world, and of this 10 per cent are present in India. The stone flower appears to be a single living unit, but it is actually formed of two odd partners of two different life styles - a fungus and an alga. The algal partner is inside the stone flower while the rest of the body is made up of fungus. The fungus protects the algae, while the algae which contain chlorophyll, make food for both of them (by photosynthesis). This is called symbiotic association.

Stone flowers are the biological indicators of air pollution. Air pollution, deforestation and continuous neglect destroy many of these species. They have great medicinal value. Recent research brought out that the polysaccharide extracted from stone flowers inhibits the cyclopathic effect of HIV and suppresses the HIV- antigen expression in cells.

The combination of the two different life forms working in unison so successfully, is worth preserving.

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