Field Guide

Mosses, Liverworts, and Lichens

Showing 1 - 10 of 41 results
Beard lichen (Usnea lichen) on a branch
Beard Lichens (Usnea Lichens)
Usnea spp.
Beard lichens are shrubby, branching, hairy-looking lichens that grow in tufts from a single point on tree branches. They are grayish green, and the branches are round in cross-section.
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.
Dixie reindeer lichen (Cladina subtenuis)
Dixie Reindeer Lichen (Reindeer Moss)
Cladina subtenuis (syn. Cladonia subtenuis)
Dixie reindeer lichen, also called reindeer moss, takes the form of pale yellow-green, finely branched cushions that grow on the soil. This is the most common and widespread of Missouri’s reindeer lichen species.
Sinewed ramalina, or American cartilage lichen (Ramalina americana), growing on a tree trunk
Twig Lichens (Ramalina Lichens)
Ramalina spp.
Twig lichens, or ramalina lichens, are branching, shrubby lichens that grow in tufts from a single point. They are grayish green, and the branches are distinctively flattened.
Carolina phaeoceros hornwort, Phaeoceros carolinianus
Hornworts
4 species in Missouri
With their flattened, green forms, hornworts resemble liverworts, but their spore-bearing structures are elongated and horn-shaped. As with liverworts and mosses, hornworts make forest floors, streamsides, and spring openings beautiful.
Closeup of thallus lobe of snakeskin liverwort
Liverworts
About 112 species in Missouri
Liverworts, along with mosses, make forest floors, streamsides, and spring openings beautiful. They’re fascinating but overlooked.
Snakeskin liverwort growing on a rock
Snakeskin Liverwort
Conocephalum salebrosum (formerly C. conicum)
Snakeskin liverwort looks like large, flattened, irregular, overlapping straps. The surface is covered with polygon-shaped air pores, giving it a bubbly appearance similar to snakeskin. Look for it along streams, springs, and the moist bases of bluffs.
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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.