Pale Lichen is a composite organism from
Snarsis formed from a symbiotic relationship between fungi and algae resulting in Pale Lichen.
Appearance
Pale lichens are scrubby and slender, growing on the rock floors and walls near cave entrances where they can still get sunlight while not being burned up to a crisp in the Snarsisan sun. The lichen is pale in color often with tinges of green or yellow.
Pale lichens grow very slowly, only growing a millimeter or less a year, and live a very long time being very hard to kill.
Pale Lichens reproduce via spores, which can be carried away by wind or water and deposited elsewhere or take root near their parent plant. They may also be able to grow clone lichen by branches breaking off and beginning to grow separately from the original plant.
Pale Lichens contain a toxic chemical that is poisonous to less hearty species but can be digested by
Snarsisians without any side effects.
Uses
Pale lichens are a staple food in
Snarsisian food and can be made into bread, soup, porridge, puddings, and salads. They are a very versatile ingredient and can be used to cook many different dishes, however, due to their toxic components the lichen is mostly reserved for Snarsisan consumers.
They may also be used as a dye, producing a pale yellow dye; they are dried and then boiled along with the fabric they wish to dye. The dye is common in traditional Snarsisian clothing, but modernly is mostly used by artists who have a preference for natural dyes.
The Lichen may also be used in traditional Snarsisian medicine, often brewed into a tea or soup and taken to help recover from illness. Though this method has mostly been disproven as being an effective treatment it does not do any harm and many people still use this method to treat colds alongside taking other more effective medicines.
Due to their multiple uses, Snarsisans have developed a way of farming the lichen in their underground cities by using artificial sunlight to allow the lichen to photosynthesise while keeping the farms deep enough underground that the Snarsisians don’t have to travel very far or risk being out in the sun.
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