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2022 Note: Links were checked and updated in March 2022. Let us know if you encounter problems. See also Lichen and Lichenology on WikiPedia and references therein.
About Lichens in General
- Lichens in Outer Space?, from New Scientist
- About lichens, from the U.S. Forest Service, Celebrating Wildflowers
- Lichens at the Cornell Mushroom Blog
- Opposites Attract, or What’s Up with Lichens?, at Foothills Fancies (a Colorado blog)
- Ways of Enlichenment Working toward a lichen flora for Western North America (lots of photos!)
- White Worms and Pixie Cups in Colorado, a post from Jennifer at The Artful Amoeba (Scientific American)
- More from Jennifer Frazer, the Artful Amoeba:
- Lichen, Take Me Away!, which includes a lovely slo-mo video, and in which she eloquently analogizes:
“Has the fungus enslaved the alga, purposely keeping it barefoot and pregnant and locked inside its mycelial kitchen? Or are they best buddies homebrewing lichen compounds (the chemicals that make so many brightly colored) in the lichen frat house?” - Lichens in the Mist, including nice diagrams and micro-shots, as well as good intro to Peltigera and Nostoc
- Lichens vs the Almighty Prion Don’t know what a prion is? Maybe you should. Lichens can kill them.
- Lichen, Take Me Away!, which includes a lovely slo-mo video, and in which she eloquently analogizes:
- Learning to Like Lichen, even Chris at Catalogue of Organisms talked about lichens once
- Lovable Lichens, PDF, introduction to lichen appreciation
- Lizzie Harper’s Intro to Lichens (illustrations)
- California Lichen Society
How They are Put Together
- Stuff on rocks II: All about lichens From the Watcher, a great introduction to lichens and why they’re so cool. Not to be missed, plus he was a prolific blogger with a gift for explaining nature discoveries until he “retired” in 2011.
- A Partnership Apart (Science News) (accessible)
- Includes image of cross-section of a lichen; typical foliose structure
Lichen Identification and Photos
- The North American Lichen Project, the book is a definitive resource (Brodo, Sharnoff, Sharnoff); see info and photos at Sharnoff Lichen Photo Galleries
- Search collections at the Consortium of North American Lichen Herbaria (CNALH)
- Catalog of Colorado Lichens from CU Boulder Herbarium (PDF)
- Checklist of Colorado Lichens (CNALH Lichen Portal)
Lichens Elsewhere in the World (outside North America)
- Lichens in Scotland, from Scottish Natural Heritage (now Nature Scot)
- Lichens of Scottish Pinewoods, downloadable pdf
- Lichens of Australia, lots of lists and info, 3740 species of lichens!
Lichens and Their Uses (Ethnolichenology)
- Lichens and Their Uses (US Forest Service)
- Dyeing with Lichens and Mushrooms from the Cornell Mushroom Blog
Lichens and Air Pollution
- Lichens as Bioindicators (National Park Service)
And Friends (Human and Otherwise)
- Stuff that grows on rocks I: Moss from the Watcher
- Moss field guide, Sequoia National Park, from Moss Plants and More, a great blog on mosses
- Zombie Mosses, alive after hundreds of years, also from Moss Plants and More
- Mosses, Liverworts, and Lichens, Mammoth Cave National Park; National Park Service (with park species list)
- Taynish (Scotland) Mosses and Liverworts Some nice microphotography, from Scotland’s Nature.
- The real problem with rim brakes and the true nature of the force All about fungi, also from the Watcher (and I just love this quote)
Because now I realize that there is a Force, that is real, that pervades and permeates the entire Living World and, in the big picture—bigger than me or my little worries or my short life—links us all together, to each other and to all other living things, through birth, growth, consumption, life and eventually death. That Force is Fungi.
Colorado Lichens and Friends 