Lichenised

Part of speech: verb, adjective

Definitions

1. Overgrown with lichen, the crusty fungal and algal growth that often coats rocks, bark and tree trunks in patches
2. Having become colonized by lichens, which form a grey, green or orange crust on stone, wood and soil surfaces
3. Describing a surface that has been encrusted with lichen, a composite organism formed by fungi living alongside algae

Etymology: "Lichenised" is the past form of the verb "lichenise", which is the British spelling of "lichenize", meaning to become covered with lichen or to take on a lichen-like growth. Lichens are not single plants but partnerships between a fungus and an alga or cyanobacterium, and the word for them comes from Greek "leichen", a term for a tree-creeping growth or a skin eruption. The verb is built from the noun "lichen" with the suffix "-ise" (or "-ize"), a common pattern in English for turning a noun into a verb meaning to cause or undergo something, as in "crystallise" or "fossilise". Used as an adjective, "lichenised" describes a surface or object that has been overgrown with lichen, such as a stone wall or a tree trunk.