If you have walked the trails at the Preserve you may not have given lichens a second thought. Or perhaps mistaken them for another organism, like a moss. If this is the case, then you have missed out on wonders of the natural world.

A lichen is not a single organism, but rather a mutualistic community of at least two different species: a fungus and a photosynthetic alga or cyanobacterium. Lichens can be divided into three principal body categories. 

• Fruticose lichens are highly branched and can grow like shrubs. 
• Crustose (crustlike) lichens adhere tightly to their substrate. 
• Foliose (leafy) lichens are loosely attached and grow parallel to their substrate.

On a January 2020 Citrus Native Plant Society field trip lichenologists Ann DeBolt and Roger Rosentreter pointed out that all three lichen categories can be found on many substrates at the Preserve: on tree bark, on open soil, and on bare rock. 

To learn more about lichens:

• Florida Lichen Field Guide (by Ann DeBolt, Roger Rosentreter, et al.)
• Consortium of North American Lichen Herbaria
• Lichen photographer and biologist Tim Wheeler (video)

This App helps find and identify plants. When you give the App information about a plant, such as its location, flower color and the time of year, the App will quickly show you which plants match your selections.

The App includes 2,746 species of plants found in Florida. Overall, 1,426 are “Wildflowers”, 263 are shrubs, 276 are trees, 106 are vines, 5 are a cactus, 461 are grass-like, 59 are fern-like, 139 are moss-like, 20 are seaweed and 156 are lichen.

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