Lichens are symbiotic lifeforms that are briefly mentioned in the DreamWorks Dragons Franchise.
To keep organization on the How to Train Your Dragon Wiki, Lichens will be classed under 'Plants', though, in fact, Lichens can be classed Kingdom Fungi.
Description[]
Lichens are a highly diverse symbiotic combination of organisms that occur worldwide, even in Antarctica. Lichens are classed as a Fungi. This is because the so-called 'main' or 'base' organism is always some species of Fungi. The other organism component to a lichen is a photosynthetic being, usually one or more Algae or algal cyanobacteria. All component organisms cannot or with difficulty live separately in the environments in which lichens are found. The fungi part is able to break down substrates such as rocks or organic matter, while the photosynthetic part provides energy. The living parts may reproduce separately, such as the fungi producing spores, or can in essence reproduce all together by bits of the lichen breaking off and spreading. The appearance of lichen is as variable as its component make up - it can appear leaf like, or like flattened ruffled disks, or have cup-like structures, or appear highly similar to a clump of Moss or even look like long fronds of hair.
Rock tripe is a common type of lichen in the genus Umbilicaria. These lichens can be found growing on rocks throughout the northern parts of North America, but can be found in other parts of the world, such as Europe and Asia. It even grows on rocks in Antarctica. Species of rock tripe are often shades of brown or grey with a foliose growth habit, i.e. pieces of two defined sides like a leaf.
Function[]
In the Franchise, the only known function for lichen is to be the food of specific dragons, particularly Buffalords and occasionally Gobsuckers.
In real life, if prepared correctly, some lichens like rock tripe can be edible to humans, with it often being used as a famine food in survival situations, like those faced by early American explorers. One species, Umbilicaria esculenta is often used as food in China, Japan, and Korea and is also used as a restorative medicine in traditional Chinese medicine. Lichen is also a major food source for reindeer during the winter in Northern latitudes.
Appearances[]
Games[]
Dragons: Rise of Berk[]
The Gobsucker Sulfurous Snifflepharts will eat lichen to aid in gas production.
| “ | Sulfurous Snifflepharts supplements her diet of schist fragments with a bitter lichen that grows only in the rank air found on the rim of volcanos. This lichen is repellent to other dragons, but gives Snifflepharts an indigestion that is essential to its gas production. | ” |
| — Dragons: Rise of Berk |
Dragons: Titan Uprising[]
The Buffalord Frostgnaw is said to eat rock tripe.
| “ | In the frozen north of the Barbaric Archipelago, the Frostgnaw subsists on a steady diet of sphagnum moss and rock tripe. | ” |
| — Dragons: Titan Uprising |
