Somehow I never knew that Lichens were hybrid organisms -- being the result of fungi melding with (most often) algae.
Recent DNA analysis suggests this mutual hybridization occurred not just once, after which the many thousand of lichen species evolved, but rather that fungi discovered the appeal of algae and cyanobacteria, or vice-versa, on many different occasions.
The result, of course, is nearly always stunningly beautiful and puts any thought we might have of longevity to shame.
This lichen was found on a coast live oak in Foothills Park, Palo Alto, CA.