How do you think lichen sexually reproduce?

Question

i hear that there is no official answer on this as it has never been fully observed; but when the male organs fertilize the female, how does this happen? how can they fertilize lichen which may be inches or further away from them?

Answer 1

Sexual reproduction in lichens depends on a germinated lichen spore, which contains only the fungal component of the lichen, encountering an appropriate alga on the substratum. This method involves a factor of chance. It is useful, therefore, for the lichen to have a mode of reproduction that ensures that the fungal and algal components of the lichen will come together to produce a lichen. Many of the asexual modes of lichen reproduction handle this problem by packaging fungal and algal cells together in a propagule that can produce a new lichen thallus. However, C. coralloides does not employ all of these modes of asexual reproduction. Also, not all propagules for asexual reproduction in lichens contain both the fungal and the algal components.