Field Guide

Mosses, Liverworts, and Lichens

Showing 1 - 10 of 18 results
Cluster of red-tipped British soldiers podetia
British Soldier Lichen
Cladonia cristatella
British soldier lichen is widespread in eastern North America. Branching stalks with bright red knobs at their tips arise from a patch of small, green scalelike structures. The red is similar to the color of British soldiers’ coats during the American Revolution.
Common powderhorn lichen (Cladonia coniocraea) at Painted Rock CA
Common Powderhorn
Cladonia coniocraea
Common powderhorn’s slender, gray-green, hornlike fruiting structures emerge from a carpet of gray-green, scalelike squamules. This lichen usually grows on old, damp wood, often on tree bases, in shady areas.
Gold-eye lichen (Teloschistes chrysopthalmus), surrounded by star rosette lichens on a tree
Gold-Eye Lichen
Teloschistes chrysopthalmus
Gold-eye lichen is quite small but easy to identify. It grows on twigs and small branches. It is shrubby with yellowish branching stalks. The apothecia disks are bright orange and have spiny-looking appendages around the rim.
Pale gray cluster of gray reindeer lichen growing in a patch of moss
Gray Reindeer Lichen (Reindeer Moss)
Cladina rangiferina (syn. Cladonia rangiferina)
Gray reindeer lichen, also called reindeer moss, takes the form of bright ashy or silvery-gray, branching cushions that grow on the soil. The branch tips usually bend to point in the same direction, as if combed or blown by a strong wind.
Common greenshield lichen (Flavoparmelia caperata) on a tree trunk
Common Greenshield Lichen
Flavoparmelia caperata
The common greenshield lichen is a medium to large, green foliose lichen. Common and widespread in eastern North America, it grows on tree bark.
Ruffle lichen growing on a tree trunk, showing upraised thallus lobes and hairlike marginal cilia
Ruffle Lichens (Parmotrema Lichens)
Parmotrema spp.
Ruffle lichens are rather large, broad-lobed foliose lichens that are loosely attached to the substrate. The rounded edges of the lobes usually lift up and look ruffled. Hairlike cilia arise from the lobe edges. They usually grow on tree bark.
Stippleback lichen (Dermatocarpon sp.) growing on a rock
Stippleback Lichens (Dermatocarpon Lichens)
Dermatocarpon spp.
Stippleback lichens, or rock tripes, are almost always found on bluffs, boulders, and outcrops. They cling to their substrate by a single point of attachment and typically grow in clusters. The surface of these floppy-looking lichens is covered with tiny black dots.
Dog tooth lichen showing thallus undersides and upraised, white lobe tips
Dog Tooth Lichen
Peltigera canina
Dog tooth lichen, Peltigera canina, is a foliose lichen that usually grows on soil. It’s common and easy to identify. The spore-bearing structures are rusty brown and rolled, standing upright at the lobe tips.
Star rosette lichen (Physcia stellaris) growing with firedot lichen (Caloplaca sp.) on tree bark at Runge CA
Star Rosette Lichen
Physcia stellaris
The star rosette lichen is a super common, small foliose lichen that most often grows on trees, including trunks, limbs, and twigs. The pale gray thallus has branching, petal-like lobes. The center of the rosette is almost always crowded with apothecia cups with black or dark gray centers.
Yellow cobblestone lichen (Acarospora contigua) on a rock
Cobblestone Lichens (Acarospora Lichens)
Acarospora spp.
Cobblestone lichens , or cracked lichens, grow flat against their substrate and are textured like lumpy cobblestone streets or old, cracked paint, or they are broken into sections like the mud of a dried lake. Depending on species, the color can range from white to greenish gray to brown to bright yellow.
See Also

About Mosses, Liverworts, and Lichens in Missouri

Mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens seem rather similar, but these organisms are in very different groups. Mosses, liverworts, and hornworts are small, low plants usually found in damp habitats. Unlike more familiar plants, they lack veinlike structures and do not produce flowers or seeds — instead, they produce spores. Meanwhile, lichens are not plants at all: they are a collection of different fungi that have photosynthetic algae living within their tissues.