For Trevor Goward, the curator of the lichen collection at the University of British Columbia, the extreme tolerances of lichens are an example of what he calls the “lichening rod effect.” Lichens invite flashes of insight, or“supercharged understanding” in Goward’s words. The lichening rod effect describes what happens when lichens strike familiar concepts, splintering them into new forms. The idea of symbiosis is one such example. Survival in space is another, as is the threat that lichens pose to systems of biological classification. “Lichens tell us things about life,” Goward exclaimed to me.“They inform us.”

— Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake