Term: lichen
Origin: Anc Greek λείχω/licho(=lick) because lichens seem to lick stones and barks of trees.
Coined: by Theophrastus (371-284 BC) in order to describe a superficial growth on the bark of olive trees.The dual nature of lichens was discovered in 1867, by Swiss botanist Simon Schwendener. Bonnier synthesized succesefully a lichen in the year 1886-9 by growing fungal spores with algae.
The medicinal use of lichens can be traced back to the ancient period (18th cen BC) when Evernia furfuracea was first used as a drug to treat the disease which looked like. In the same sense the yellow Xanthoria parietine was used to cure jaundice, while other species of Evernia, Peltigera, Parmelia, Cladonia, Roccella and Pertusaria were used to control diarrhoea, infections, skin diseases, epilepsy, and others medical conditions.
Definition:
1. (botany) Lichen is a successful autotrophic symbiotic association of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner usually an alga, but sometimes it can be a photosynthesizing bacterium known as a cyanobacterium.
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