lichened


li·chen

L0153200 (lī′kən)n.1. A composite organism made up of a fungus, usually an ascomycete, that grows symbiotically with an alga or a cyanobacterium and characteristically forms a crustlike or branching growth on rocks or tree trunks.2. Medicine Any of various skin diseases characterized by patchy eruptions of small, firm papules.tr.v. li·chened, li·chen·ing, li·chens To cover with lichens.
[Latin līchēn, a kind of plant, from Greek leikhēn, from leikhein, to lick; see leigh- in Indo-European roots.]
li′chen·ous adj.