Lichens are a symbiosis of at least two quite different organisms. The partnership always involves a fungus, which lives with one or more partners which can do photosynthesis. The photobiont partner may be a green alga and/or a cyanobacterium.p5,6,13
The algae or bacteria live inside the fungus, and exchange nutrients with it. The lichen is different in shape and mode of life from any of the partners. It is a distinct form of life. Botanists did not know this until about 1875.
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