lichenology

[lahy-kuh-nol-uh-jee]

noun

1. the branch of biology that studies lichens.

lichenology

/ ˌlaɪkəˈnɒlədʒɪ, ˌlɪ- /

noun

1. the study of the structure, physiology, and ecology of lichens

Other Word Forms

• lichenologic adjective
• lichenological adjective
• lichenologist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of lichenology¹

First recorded in 1855–60; lichen ( def. ) + -o- ( def. ) + -logy ( def. )

Example Sentences

For these lichens, these humble little brothers of our dust, that many of us never looked at twice on the stones of the field, or the gray stumps and dead limbs in the wood, are so interesting when you've really met them—been properly introduced—that a whole science has grown up around them called "lichenology."

Read more on Project Gutenberg

The Rev. J. M. Crombie has therefore our sympathies in the remark with which his summary of the gonidia controversy closes, in which he characterizes it as a “sensational romance of lichenology,” of the “unnatural union between a captive algal damsel and a tyrant fungal master.”

Read more on Project Gutenberg