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Moss and Lichen
This book is a fascinating exploration of mosses and lichens, celebrating the extraordinary biology, beauty and resilience of these unassuming organisms. Endowed with unique superpowers, from enduring desiccation to thriving in extreme habitats, mosses and lichens defy easy categorization. Mosses, integral to the plant kingdom, and lichens, a kingdom unto themselves, colonize a great variety of landscapes, from rainforests to deserts and urban pavements. Neglected in the past for their lack of flowers, these organisms now garner recognition for their significant role in maintaining the health of our world’s ecosystem. Elizabeth Lawson’s book shows how they shape landscapes, prevent erosion and sequester carbon, and surveys the biologists, artists and writers who celebrate their importance. Moss and Lichen inspires a newfound appreciation for these unsung heroes of the natural world.
- GenresNonfiction
256 pages, Hardcover
Published February 27, 2025
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47 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 25, 2025
I was so excited to find this in a bookstore in Bath (Mr. B’s Emporium of Reading Delights) on a shelf display of books about moss, one of my favorite niche subjects. I loved the full color pictures and gorgeous binding. I found most of the book fascinating but some of it felt like filler.
September 9, 2025
I loved the information and depth of bryology and lichenology and the history of its study. This book is also illustrated and captioned so well, and supplement the text excellently. there are just a few shortcomings I had (all personal):
- First is the description of the life cycle of moss and lichen in chapters two and three. I understand that their lifecycles are incredibly unique and complex, but the way it was written was so convoluted and difficult to properly understand. Terms weren't properly defined and I feel the book almost forgot that it was published for the public and not a scientific journal. I've read books like Alien Earths and some books on mycology and have managed to keep up fine, but I think while the author knew and shared so much information, there was just little done to make critical and fascinating information understandable to their audience.
- Second related to the author needing to think more about who they are writing to. In the second last chapter, the author was going through different observers of moss and lichen and discusses Richard Spruce who did a lot of heavy lifting to the study, but she summarises the peace moss gives him by providing a quote he made in India about when he's overwhelmed with rain and 'swollen streams' 'grumbling indians'. It sounds pedantic but idk it truly took me out of it. Couldn't this quote be summarised differently? Like even just doing a '...' over the indian part, or even just a literal word acknowledging an outdatedness of his quote. It's small, but it truly is othering, and just shows that it's very likely the author probably didn't expect an Indian to read this (grumbling too 🥴).
That one quote put everything else into more context in that this book is increeeedibly centred on research and people in the US and UK. Moss and lichen are found all over the planet, and the fact that we got a few worldwide moments thrown haphazardly into the final chapter titled #moss#lichen really goes to show that this book could have been much more exciting in exploring different bryologists around the world instead of going through I kid you not, three Williams (love Mitten though) from the US and the UK in a chapter.
- First is the description of the life cycle of moss and lichen in chapters two and three. I understand that their lifecycles are incredibly unique and complex, but the way it was written was so convoluted and difficult to properly understand. Terms weren't properly defined and I feel the book almost forgot that it was published for the public and not a scientific journal. I've read books like Alien Earths and some books on mycology and have managed to keep up fine, but I think while the author knew and shared so much information, there was just little done to make critical and fascinating information understandable to their audience.
- Second related to the author needing to think more about who they are writing to. In the second last chapter, the author was going through different observers of moss and lichen and discusses Richard Spruce who did a lot of heavy lifting to the study, but she summarises the peace moss gives him by providing a quote he made in India about when he's overwhelmed with rain and 'swollen streams' 'grumbling indians'. It sounds pedantic but idk it truly took me out of it. Couldn't this quote be summarised differently? Like even just doing a '...' over the indian part, or even just a literal word acknowledging an outdatedness of his quote. It's small, but it truly is othering, and just shows that it's very likely the author probably didn't expect an Indian to read this (grumbling too 🥴).
That one quote put everything else into more context in that this book is increeeedibly centred on research and people in the US and UK. Moss and lichen are found all over the planet, and the fact that we got a few worldwide moments thrown haphazardly into the final chapter titled #moss#lichen really goes to show that this book could have been much more exciting in exploring different bryologists around the world instead of going through I kid you not, three Williams (love Mitten though) from the US and the UK in a chapter.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews