Those white bands across the bark of this are lichens. They are common in moist tropical forest areas of St. Croix like in Maroon Country, although you might see them in dry forest areas of the island. There are many different species of lichens worldwide. Lichen are not like other familiar plants in that lichen are made up of two organisms of very different types, a fungus and an alga, intimately associated with each other in a complex relationship called symbiosis. (Photo by Olasee Davis)
