On siliceous rocks such as granite, rhizoidal hyphae penetrate the rock
chiefly between the thin separable flakes of mica. Bachmann[330] has
recognized in these conditions three distinct series of cell-formations:
(1) slender long-celled sparsely branched hyphae which form a network
by frequent anastomoses; (2) further down, though only occasionally,
hyphae with short thick-walled bead-like cells; and (3) beneath these,
but only in or near mica crystals, spherical cells containing oil or some
albuminous substance.
_c._ CHEMICAL NATURE OF THE SUBSTRATUM. Lichens growing on calcareous
rocks or soils are more or less endolithic, those on siliceous rocks
are largely epilithic, but Bachmann[331] found that the mica crystals
in granite were penetrated, much in the same way as limestone, by the
lichen hyphae. These travel through the mica in all directions, though
they tend to follow the line of cleavage, thus taking the direction of
least cohesion. He found that oil-hyphae were formed, and also certain
peculiar bristle-like terminal branches; in other cases there were thin
layers of plectenchyma, and gonidia were also present. If however felspar
or quartz crystals, no matter how thin, blocked the way, further growth
was arrested, the hyphae being unable to pierce through or even to leave
any trace on the quartz[332]. On granite containing no mica constituents
the hyphae can only follow the cracks between the different impenetrable
crystals.
Stahlecker[333] has confirmed Bachmann’s observations, but he considers
that the difference in habit and structure between the endolithic and
epilithic series of lichens is due rather to the chemical than to the
physical nature of the substratum. Thus in a rock of mixed composition
such as granite, the more basic constituents are preferred by the hyphae,
and are the first to be surrounded: mica, when present, is at once
penetrated; particles of hornblende, which contain 40 to 50 per cent.
only of silicic acid, are laid hold of by the filaments of the lichen
before the felspar, of which the acid content is about 60 per cent.;
quartz grains which are pure silica are attacked last of all, though in
the course of time they also become corroded.
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