Script Lichen

A crustose lichen whose elongated fruiting bodies resemble scribbles or writing on the bark of trees. The orange stuff surrounding the lichen is Trentepohlia algae. Trentepohlia algae are green algae that can live symbiotically with lichens, such as Graphis scripta. The filaments of Trentepohlia are orange because they contain a large quantity of carotenoid pigments, which mask the green of the chlorophyll.