Geograph - photograph every grid square

Growing on a fir stump by the track in Grizedale Forest.

First described scientifically by American botanist Edward Tuckerman in 1858, British Soldiers gets its name from its resemblance to the uniforms worn by English soldiers during the American War of Independence.

A lichen is not just one organism, but a fungus and algae living together to form a new organism. Each part of the lichen appears to help the other. The fungus provides the algae with a "house" to live in, and the algae makes food for the fungus. Each organism could live on its own, but they seem to do much better together. The main body of a lichen is called a "thallus." You can only have a thallus when the fungus and algae have joined. The bright colours of British Soldiers would not be there if the fungus was alone; instead it would look like a white blob. The red part of British Soldiers makes spores. Spores are a lot like seeds from plants, in that they can travel by wind and start a new fungus. The new fungus will not become British Soldiers, though, until the algae joins it.