In 2015 I came across lichen in the Dryandra Woodlands, near Narrogin. It is an especially scenic area with magnificent woodlands and spectacular wildflowers in spring. It is one of the rare areas of open eucalypt woodlands of white-barked wandoo and powderbark trees which used to cover much of the Wheatbelt region before they were cleared for farming. Amongst thickets of rock sheoak and kwongan heath, lay an ecological diversity hotspot. I was startled by the presence of lichen and from there I am forever more enamoured …

“Consider the Lichen. Lichens are just about the hardiest visible organisms on Earth, but the least ambitious.”  Bill Bryson, A Short History of Everything, UK 2003