c. Chemical Nature of the Substratum. Lichens growing on calcareous rocks or soils are more or less endolithic, those on siliceous rocks are largely epilithic, but Bachmann[331] found that the mica crystals in granite were penetrated, much in the same way as limestone, by the lichen hyphae. These travel through the mica in all directions, though they tend to follow the line of cleavage, thus taking the direction of least cohesion. He found that oil-hyphae were formed, and also certain peculiar bristle-like terminal branches; in other cases there were thin layers of plectenchyma, and gonidia were also present. If however felspar or quartz crystals, no matter how thin, blocked the way, further growth was arrested, the hyphae being unable to pierce through or even to leave any trace on the quartz[332]. On granite containing no mica constituents the hyphae can only follow the cracks between the different impenetrable crystals.
Stahlecker[333] has confirmed Bachmann’s observations, but he considers that the difference in habit and structure between the endolithic and epilithic series of lichens is due rather to the chemical than to the physical nature of the substratum. Thus in a rock of mixed composition such as granite, the more basic constituents are preferred by the hyphae, and are the first to be surrounded: mica, when present, is at once penetrated; particles of hornblende, which contain 40 to 50 per cent. only of silicic acid, are laid hold of by the filaments of the lichen before the felspar, of which the acid content is about 60 per cent.; quartz grains which are pure silica are attacked last of all, though in the course of time they also become corroded.
The character of the substratum also affects to a great extent the comparative development of the different thalline layers: the hyphal tissues in silicicolous lichens are much thinner than in lichens on limestone, and the gonidial zone is correspondingly wider. In a species of Staurothele on granite, Stahlecker[333] estimated the gonidial zone to be about 600 µ thick, while the lower medullary hyphae, partly burrowing into the rock, measured about 6 mm. Other measurements at different parts of the thallus gave a rhizoidal depth of 3 mm., while on a more finely granular substratum, with a gonidial zone of 350 µ, the rhizoidal hyphae measured only 1-1/2 mm. On calcareous rocks, on the contrary, with a gonidial zone that is certainly no larger, the hyphal elements penetrate the rock to varying depths down to 15 mm. or even more.
Lang[334] has recorded equally interesting measurements for Sarcogyne (Biatorella) latericola: on slaty rock which contained no mixture of lime, the gonidial zone had a thickness of 80 µ, a considerable proportion of the very thin thallus. Fünfstück[335] has indeed suggested that this lichen on acid rocks is only a starved condition of Sarcogyne (Biatorella) simplex, which on calcareous rocks, though with a broader gonidial zone, has, as noted above, a correspondingly much larger hyphal tissue.
Stahlecker’s theory is that the hyphae require more energy to grow in the acid conditions that prevail in siliceous rocks, and therefore they make larger demands on the algal symbionts. It follows that the latter must be stimulated to more abundant growth than in circumstances favourable to the fungus, such as are found in basic (calcareous) rocks; he concludes that on the acid (siliceous) rocks, the epilithic or superficial condition is not only a physical but a biological necessity, to enable the algae to grow and multiply in a zone well exposed to light with full opportunity for active photosynthesis and healthy increase.
C. Corticolous Lichens
The crustaceous lichens occurring on bark or on dead wood, like those on rocks, are either partly or wholly immersed in the substratum (hypophloeodal), or they grow on the surface (epiphloeodal); but even those with a superficial crust are anchored by the lower hyphae which enter any crack or crevice of wood or bark and so securely attach the thallus, that it can only be removed by cutting away the underlying substance.
a. Epiphloeodal Lichens. These lichens originate in the same way as the corresponding epilithic series from soredia or from germinating spores, and follow the same stages of growth; first a hypothallus with subsequent colonization of gonidia, the formation of granules, areolae, etc. The small compartments are formed as primary or secondary areolae; the larger spaces are marked out by the encounter of hypothalli starting from different centres.
The thickness of the thallus varies considerably according to the species. In some Pertusariae with a stoutish irregular crust there is a narrow amorphous cortical layer of almost obliterated cells, a thin gonidial zone about 35 µ in width and a massive rather dense medulla of colourless hyphae. Darbishire[336] has described and figured in Varicellaria microsticta, one of the Pertusariaceae, single hyphae that extend like beams across the wide medulla and connect the two cortices. In some Lecanorae and Lecideae there is, on the contrary, an extremely thin thallus consisting of groups of algae and loose fungal filaments, which grow over and between the dead cork cells of the outer bark. On palings, there is often a fairly substantial granular crust present, with a gonidial zone up to about 80 µ thick, while the underlying or medullary hyphae burrow among the dead wood fibres.