Lichenlignos Giganteus

Captain Serge Stone’s Logbook, Commander of the Exploration Starjumper "Cognition-5"; Expedition to Planet Kepler-213d (Zaraphon); Entry No. 29510226:
“We’ve received a report from the expedition to the Stanisław Lem Archipelago, consisting of Gala (botanist), Nikolai (seismologist and geochemist), and Arman (oceanologist). As a reminder, the goal of the expedition, which began three days ago, is to study the volcanic island archipelago north of the landing site, to find deposits of non-ferrous metals for repairing damaged modules and to map seismic activity to study the internal structure of the planet. The team members have reported on their work over the past day, sent us photos and data collected. They have announced that they have named two newly discovered stratovolcanoes in the southeast of the central island "Tarantoga" and "Ijon Tichy," after characters from Stanisław Lem’s works. They also discovered a basalt plateau covering approximately 20 square miles, with an average height of 100 feet above sea level. Nikolai determined that this is the youngest part of the island, which was part of the seabed less than 20,000 years ago and was uplifted during the last eruption of Tarantoga Volcano. A characteristic feature of the plateau is its structure, composed of vertical basalt columns joined into a single massif. This feature resembles the structure of the ‘Giant’s Causeway’ in Northern Ireland on Earth, though on a much larger scale. In several places on the plateau, hot water lakes have been found, evidently fed by geothermal springs. The water from these lakes flows down the plateau in streams and waterfalls, entering the ocean. It has a high content of iron, sulfur, and calcium, as well as excessive acidity (pH 5.5).
Our group was incredibly excited by the photo of a local inhabitant — a true giant monster, although not an animal but a plant. The organism, discovered by Nikolai, reaches approximately 14 feet in height, with its unusual structure and eerie appearance — all these tentacle-like outgrowths and a shaggy cap on a "stalk." To me, it resembled an Earth sea anemone, the kind sometimes kept in aquariums, you know? This giant grows along the banks of one of the streams at the base of the plateau, on incredibly poor soil, practically on bare rocks. Gala named it Lichenlignos Giganteus, which can be translated as Giant Lichen-Tree.
I am reluctant to call this entity a plant because, as Svyatoslav (xenobiologist) explained to me, it is a symbiote of two different organisms — a plant exhibiting characteristics of algae and moss, and a chemo-synthetic fungus. It is organized similarly to Earth lichens, which consist of algae and fungi working together. If I understand correctly, in Lichenlignos, the plant symbiont provides the fungus with oxygen and carbohydrates, while the fungus (I use this term due to its structural similarity to Earth fungi, but in reality, these organisms are as distant from each other as humans and E. coli) releases an alkaline solution that neutralizes the water’s acidity, making it suitable for the plant. This well-coordinated cooperation allows Lichenlignos Giganteus to live almost on bare rocks near an acidic stream, and even in the toxic atmosphere of volcanic emissions. We have previously found similar symbiotic organisms on rocks and cliffs, but they were orders of magnitude smaller than this specimen. The reason is likely that this specimen has been growing here for several hundred years, accumulating mass. Around Lichenlignos Giganteus, a unique biome has developed — its thread-like leaves are eaten by terrestrial "Squeakers," which in turn are preyed upon by local "Needlenoses." It’s amazing how living beings can adapt even to the harshest conditions!
(Photo #1 shows the main part of Lichenlignos Giganteus, surrounded by clouds of spores. If you look closely, you can see the blurred trajectory of a Needlenose in flight. In the foreground stands Nikolai in a protective suit. In the background, the steep edge of the plateau is visible, with its lower part colored red due to iron oxide deposits on the rocks.)”