inoculated petri dishes and conical flasks were incubated for three to seven days and the cultures were observed under a microscope. In November 2001, commissioned by the Government of India's Department of Science & Technology, the Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS) and the Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute (TBGRI) issued a joint report, which concluded: The site was again visited on 16 August 2001 and it was found that almost all the trees, rocks and even lamp posts in the region were covered with Trentepohlia estimated to be in sufficient amounts to generate the quantity of spores seen in the rainwater. Although red or orange, Trentepohlia is a chlorophyte green alga which can grow abundantly on tree bark or damp soil and rocks, but is also the photosynthetic symbiont or photobiont of many lichens, including some of those abundant on the trees in Changanassery area. The strong orange colour of the algae, which masks the green of the chlorophyll, is caused by the presence of large quantities of orange carotenoid pigments. A lichen is not a single organism, but the result of a partnership (symbiosis) between a fungus and an alga or cyanobacterium. The report also stated that there was no meteoric, volcanic or desert dust origin present in the rainwater and that its colour was not due to any dissolved gases or pollutants. The report concluded that heavy rains in Kerala – in the weeks preceding the red rains – could have caused the widespread growth of lichens, which had given rise to a large quantity of spores into the atmosphere. However, for these lichen to release their spores simultaneously, it is necessary for them to enter their reproductive phase at about the same time. The CESS report noted that while this may be a possibility, it is quite improbable. Also, they could find no satisfactory explanation for the apparently extraordinary dispersal, nor for the apparent uptake of the spores into clouds. CESS scientists noted that "While the cause of the colour in the rainfall has been identified, finding the answers to these questions is a challenge." Attempting to explain the unusual spore proliferation and dispersal, researcher Ian Goddard proposed several local atmospheric models. Parts of the CESS/TBGRI report were supported by Milton Wainwright at the University of Sheffield, who, together with Chandra Wickramasinghe, has studied stratospheric spores. In March 2006 Wainwright said the particles were similar