Let's make a decorative candle stained with yellow wild lichen.
In medieval Europe, it's said they stained yellow candles used for festivals with the wild yellow lichen. Its scientific name is Candelaria concolor and i t is known by various names such as lemon lichen, concolor lemon lichen, candleflame lichen etc. I learned about this after reading the handbook on lichens. So, I decided to try making a decorative candle by myself. At first, I found this yellow lichen growing on thick branches of an old persimmon tree in my fields, but it was difficult to scrape off from the bark. Therefore, I looked for another place. Then I found this yellow lichen growing on a large stone outside the house where my parents lived in the past. So, I scraped off a few lichens with a utility knife. Here's a close-up photo. Each small grain is called soredia in technical term. It is an entangled tissue consisting of the hyphae of a fungus and the cells of an alga, both of them are in a symbiotic relationship each other. They are powdery and are ...
