Lichenes

Lichenes
Lichen Li"chen (l[imac]"k[e^]n; 277), n. [L., fr. Gr. leichh`n.] 1. (Bot.) One of a class of cellular, flowerless plants, (technically called {Lichenes}), having no distinction of leaf and stem, usually of scaly, expanded, frond-like forms, but sometimes erect or pendulous and variously branched. They derive their nourishment from the air, and generate by means of spores. The species are very widely distributed, and form irregular spots or patches, usually of a greenish or yellowish color, upon rocks, trees, and various bodies, to which they adhere with great tenacity. They are often improperly called {rock moss} or {tree moss}. [1913 Webster]

Note: A favorite modern theory of lichens (called after its inventor the Schwendener hypothesis), is that they are not autonomous plants, but that they consist of ascigerous fungi, parasitic on alg[ae]. Each lichen is composed of white filaments and green, or greenish, rounded cells, and it is argued that the two are of different nature, the one living at the expense of the other. See {Hyph[ae]}, and {Gonidia}. [1913 Webster]

2. (Med.) A name given to several varieties of skin disease, esp. to one characterized by the eruption of small, conical or flat, reddish pimples, which, if unchecked, tend to spread and produce great and even fatal exhaustion. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Lichĕnes — (Bot.), so v.w. Flechten …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Lichenes — Lichenes, lat., Flechten …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • Lichenes — ⇒ Flechten …   Deutsch wörterbuch der biologie

  • Lichenes — Dieser Artikel erläutert die Lebensform Flechte; zu der Hauterkrankung siehe Lichen ruber planus, Lichen pilaris und Lichen sclerosus. Flechten treten in sehr verschiedenen Farben auf …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Lichenes — Li|che|nes 〈Pl.〉 in Symbiose lebende Pilze u. Algen, Flechten [<grch. leichen „Flechte“] * * * Lichenes   [lateinisch griechisch], wissenschaftlicher Name der Flechten …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Lichenes — Li|che|nes [...ne:s] die (Plur.) <aus gleichbed. lat. lichenes, Plur. von lichen, vgl. ↑Lichen> Sammelbez. für alle Flechten (Bot.) …   Das große Fremdwörterbuch

  • Lichenes — noun comprising the lichens which grow symbiotically with algae; sometimes treated as an independent group more or less coordinate with algae and fungi • Syn: ↑division Lichenes • Hypernyms: ↑division • Member Holonyms: ↑Fungi, ↑kingdom Fungi, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • Lichenes — …   Википедия

  • Lichenes — Li|che|nes 〈Pl.; Biol.〉 in Symbiose lebende Pilze u. Algen, Flechten [Etym.: <grch. leichen »Flechte«] …   Lexikalische Deutsches Wörterbuch

  • lichenes — li·che·nes …   English syllables

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