Field Guide

Mosses, Liverworts, and Lichens

Showing 1 - 9 of 9 results
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.
Fern moss, Thuidium species
Fern Mosses (Thuidium Mosses)
Thuidium spp.
Easy to identify, fern mosses look like tiny ferns. Just like many fern fronds, the branches lie on one plane and become shorter toward the tips. They even lean over like fern fronds.
Candleflame lichen (Candelaria concolor) on tree bark
Candleflame Lichens (Candelaria Lichens)
Candelaria spp.
Candleflame lichens (Candelaria spp.) are tiny to small, greenish-yellow foliose lichens that grow in a branching, rosette form. Missouri species typically live on tree trunks.
Orange sunburst lichen (Xanthoria sp.) growing on tombstone, closeup showing rosette growth pattern
Orange Sunburst Lichens (Xanthoria Lichens)
Xanthoria spp. (also Xanthomendoza; Polycauliona)
Orange sunburst lichens are orange or yellow orange. They have a circular, foliose growth pattern with tiny, branching lobes, but this pattern is often lost when these lichens form masses of tiny scale-like fragments. They can be very common on sunny rocks and tombstones.
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.
A variety of foliose lichens nearly covering the trunk of a small redbud tree, with redbud flowers in upper right
Lichens
About 436 species in Missouri
A lichen is a composite organism formed by certain fungus species that join with certain algae species. Lichens can be many colors and can be crusty, leaflike, flaky, branching, or mossy. They grow on rocks, trees, or other surfaces.
Closeup of firedot lichen on a tombstone
Firedot Lichens (Caloplaca Lichens)
Caloplaca spp.
Firedot lichens are usually orange, yellow, rusty, or brown and look like tiny dots on a surface. To see these crustose lichens well, you often must get on your hands and knees and use a hand lens.
Closeup of a goldspeck lichen, showing apothecia, growing on a wooden handrail in the sun
Goldspeck Lichens (Candelariella Lichens)
Candelariella spp.
Goldspeck lichens are orange to yellow crustose lichens that are frequently seen growing on rocks, wood, or other substrates. Missouri has about three species.
Golden thread moss, or pale ditrichum moss, Ditrichum pallidum, with sporophytes
Golden Thread Moss (Pale Ditrichum Moss)
Ditrichum pallidum
Golden thread moss forms small, light green or yellowish, rounded, fuzzy-looking hummocks like a cat’s paws. The sporophytes are on remarkably long, slender, yellow, almost translucent stalks.
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.