Field Guide

Mosses, Liverworts, and Lichens

Showing 21 - 30 of 43 results
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.
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.
Common script lichen growing on a small hickory tree at Painted Rock CA
Common Script Lichen
Graphis scripta
The common script lichen produces spores in minute, branching cracks that look like tiny, strange writing. It’s easy to imagine these could be the poems of little elves.
Dust lichen, Lepraria sp., growing with moss at the base of a tree trunk
Dust Lichens (Lepraria Lichens)
Lepraria spp.
Dust lichens resemble a pale green or gray mass of dust clumped at the damp base of a tree trunk or in a rocky crevice. The dusty grains are tiny packages of lichen that can be moved away to make new lichens elsewhere.
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.
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.