Lichen Dye

YOUR LINK HERE:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=70MScmzX5kk

Today we we will try to make a natural dye using lichen. Watch as we collect it from trees in the Sandia Mountains, boil it, and transfer the color to a t-shirt to see what happens. • Lichen grows on trees and rocks in areas with good air quality. It can be found in crustose (like paint splotches), fruticose (branchy, fuzzy), or foliose (wavy, textured) forms. Old man's beard, that can hang down from tree branches in large fuzzy clumps high in the Sandias, is a form of lichen. • Lichen is composed of fungi species and algae in a symbiotic relationship, and even potentially bacteria. The fungi give algae cells a home and soak in water for them. The algae then uses that to carry out photosynthesis, providing food for itself and the fungi. • Scientists are still learning more interesting things about how lichen works over time. It is often one of the first living things that grows into an ecosystem which has been cleared of living species by fire, a volcanic eruption, or some other large-scale event. • For more videos from the Sandia Mountain Natural History Center visit and subscribe to their YouTube channel: • / smnhc1

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