Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Stamp of the Day: lichens of Scandinavia

Stamps of today are two lichens, Xanthoria parietina (vägglav) and Hypogymnia physiodes (blåslav), which both are very common in Sweden. Xanthoria grows on rocks, wood, and bark, and Hypogymnia are on branches and bark of trees. The stamps are issued by the little island of Aland, between Finland and Sweden.  It belongs to Finland, but they speak Swedish, and have the right to issue their own stamps. I love lichens, they are amazing creatures (not plants), of a fungus and an algae living together permanently. 

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