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  • Sometimes also called icicle moss, cat-tail moss is a very common tree moss found all over the Pacific Northwest on the western side of the Cascade Mountains. In fact, the Pacific Northwest's rainy, wet forests would look very different without it!
    Cat-tail Moss
  • Close-up of the wiry stems of Spanish moss. Contrary to the name, Spanish moss in neither a moss, nor is it Spanish. It's a native bromeliad that is closely related to pineapples and air plants found in the tropics and subtropics. This interesting epiphytic plant is most often found hanging from live oaks in the American Southeast, Texas, Mexico and Caribbean Islands where it clings to the bark of these trees by tiny scales on their long thread-like stems. Spanish moss is completely harmless to their host trees, except in some cases where there can be so much of it that it actually blocks the sunlight needed for photosynthesis. This was found in an area along the Rio Grande right next to the US-Mexico border near Alamo, Texas.
    Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides) - 2
  • Step moss is a very distinctive and attractive moss found throughout most of the Pacific Northwest. This lush soft moss grows in carpets on rocks, logs, and trees, such as this growth on the side of a bigleaf maple in the Hoh Rain Forest.
    Step Moss
  • Close-up of the wiry stems of Spanish moss. Contrary to the name, Spanish moss in neither a moss, nor is it Spanish. It's a native bromeliad that is closely related to pineapples and air plants found in the tropics and subtropics. This interesting epiphytic plant is most often found hanging from live oaks in the American Southeast, Texas, Mexico and Caribbean Islands where it clings to the bark of these trees by tiny scales on their long thread-like stems. Spanish moss is completely harmless to their host trees, except in some cases where there can be so much of it that it actually blocks the sunlight needed for photosynthesis. This small, isolated piece on was found in the Corkscrew Swamp near Naples, Florida.
    Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides)
  • Cat-tail moss is a very attractive true moss most often associated with in wet forests. This one was photographed on an ancient bigleaf maple in the Olympic National Park in the Hoh Rain Forest.
    Cat-tail Moss
  • Contrary to the name, Spanish moss in neither a moss, nor is it Spanish. It's a native bromeliad that is closely related to pineapples and air plants found in the tropics and subtropics. This interesting epiphytic plant is most often found hanging from live oaks in the American Southeast, Texas, Mexico and Caribbean Islands where it clings to the bark of these trees by tiny scales on their long thread-like stems. Spanish moss is completely harmless to their host trees, except in some cases where there can be so much of it that it actually blocks the sunlight needed for photosynthesis. This one was found in an area along the Rio Grande right next to the US-Mexico border near Alamo, Texas.
    Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides) - 1
  • Contrary to the name, Spanish moss in neither a moss, nor is it Spanish. It's a native bromeliad that is closely related to pineapples and air plants found in the tropics and subtropics. This interesting epiphytic plant is most often found hanging from live oaks in the American Southeast, Texas, Mexico and Caribbean Islands where it clings to the bark of these trees by tiny scales on their long thread-like stems. Spanish moss is completely harmless to their host trees, except in some cases where there can be so much of it that it actually blocks the sunlight needed for photosynthesis. This was part of an enormous patch found in an area along the Rio Grande right next to the US-Mexico border near Alamo, Texas.
    Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides) - 3
  • Probably the most common tree moss in the Pacific Northwest, the cat-tail moss can be found from sea level to very high elevations in the mountains. This close up was photographed in the Hoh Rain Forest on the Olympic Peninsula.
    Cat-tail Moss
  • Many of the trees and rocks in the Pacific Northwest are literally covered and draped in communities of lichen and mosses. This photographs illustrates a common sight, such as this community growing and thriving on a large bigleaf maple tree just east of Olympia, Washington. Pictured here is yellow moss (a type of tree moss) and antlered perfume (a type of tree lichen).
    Lichen and Moss Community
  • Lyell's bristle-moss is a very attractive moss found west of the Rocky Mountains and in other parts of Europe in cool, forested habitats where it forms dense mats in trees and occasionally on soil. In the Pacific Northwest where this one was found (King County, Washington) is extremely common and is often a main feature of many of the urban and suburban hiking trails through many of the public parks, where thick mats hang from the trees creating a sort of beautiful green tunnel through the forest.
    Lyell's Bristle-Moss (Pulvigera lyellii)
  • Easily one of the coolest plants to be found in the Chihuahuan desert, and goes by a long list of common names, such as the Rose of Jericho, resurrection plant,  dinosaur plant, siempre viva, stone flower, doradilla, resurrection flower and many more. This attractive member of the spikemoss family looks almost like a lush, green fern during the rainy season in its native habitat of Northern Mexico, Texas and New Mexico, but during dry spells, it desiccates into a brown dormant ball that looks like a tumbleweed, only to rehydrate back to bright, vibrant green after it rains again. These were found in abundance after the springtime rains in West Texas' Big Bend National Park.
    Resurrection Moss
  • Easily one of the coolest plants to be found in the Chihuahuan desert, and goes by a long list of common names, such as the Rose of Jericho, resurrection plant,  dinosaur plant, siempre viva, stone flower, doradilla, resurrection flower and many more. This attractive member of the spikemoss family looks almost like a lush, green fern during the rainy season in its native habitat of Northern Mexico, Texas and New Mexico, but during dry spells, it desiccates into a brown dormant ball that looks like a tumbleweed, only to rehydrate back to bright, vibrant green after it rains again. These were found in abundance after the springtime rains in West Texas' Big Bend National Park.
    Resurrection Moss
  • Easily one of the coolest plants to be found in the Chihuahuan desert, and goes by a long list of common names, such as the Rose of Jericho, resurrection plant,  dinosaur plant, siempre viva, stone flower, doradilla, resurrection flower and many more. This attractive member of the spikemoss family looks almost like a lush, green fern during the rainy season in its native habitat of Northern Mexico, Texas and New Mexico, but during dry spells, it desiccates into a brown dormant ball that looks like a tumbleweed, only to rehydrate back to bright, vibrant green after it rains again. These were found in abundance after the springtime rains in West Texas' Big Bend National Park.
    Resurrection Moss
  • Easily one of the coolest plants to be found in the Chihuahuan desert, and goes by a long list of common names, such as the Rose of Jericho, resurrection plant,  dinosaur plant, siempre viva, stone flower, doradilla, resurrection flower and many more. This attractive member of the spikemoss family looks almost like a lush, green fern during the rainy season in its native habitat of Northern Mexico, Texas and New Mexico, but during dry spells, it desiccates into a brown dormant ball that looks like a tumbleweed, only to rehydrate back to bright, vibrant green after it rains again. These were found in abundance after the springtime rains in West Texas' Big Bend National Park.
    Resurrection Moss
  • A distant relative of the pineapple, ballmoss (or ball moss) is not an actual moss but rather a bromeliad, sometimes called an air plant, that lives on trees where it has some protection from wind and sunlight but does not actually harm the tree in any way. With a native range from Argentina and Chile to the Southern United States, this interesting plant was found overhanging the Rio Grande River right on the US-Mexico border just south of Alamo, Texas in Hidalgo County.
    Ballmoss (Tillandsia recurvata)
  • Common pincushion is a very frequently encountered and wonderfully soft-to-the-touch moss found around the world in wet climates at low altitude where it is found growing in clumps on rocks, soil or the trunks of trees. This patch was growing on a fallen tree next to Soos Creek in Western Washington's King County.
    Common Pincushion (Dicranoweisia cir.. - 2
  • A distant relative of the pineapple, ballmoss (or ball moss) is not an actual moss but rather a bromeliad, sometimes called an air plant, that lives on trees where it has some protection from wind and sunlight but does not actually harm the tree in any way. With a native range from Argentina and Chile to the Southern United States, this interesting plant was found growing in the Lower Rio Grande Valley near the US-Mexico border near Weslaco, Texas.
    Ballmoss (Tillandsia recurvata)
  • A distant relative of the pineapple, ballmoss (or ball moss) is not an actual moss but rather a bromeliad, sometimes called an air plant, that lives on trees where it has some protection from wind and sunlight but does not actually harm the tree in any way. With a native range from Argentina and Chile to the Southern United States, this interesting plant was found growing in the Lower Rio Grande Valley near the US-Mexico border near Weslaco, Texas.
    Ballmoss (Tillandsia recurvata)
  • Common pincushion is a very frequently encountered and wonderfully soft-to-the-touch moss found around the world in wet climates at low altitude where it is found growing in clumps on rocks, soil or the trunks of trees. This patch was growing on a fallen tree next to Soos Creek in Western Washington's King County.
    Common Pincushion (Dicranoweisia cir.. - 4
  • Common pincushion is a very frequently encountered and wonderfully soft-to-the-touch moss found around the world in wet climates at low altitude where it is found growing in clumps on rocks, soil or the trunks of trees. This patch was growing on a fallen tree next to Soos Creek in Western Washington's King County.
    Common Pincushion (Dicranoweisia cir.. - 3
  • Common pincushion is a very frequently encountered and wonderfully soft-to-the-touch moss found around the world in wet climates at low altitude where it is found growing in clumps on rocks, soil or the trunks of trees. This patch was growing on a fallen tree next to Soos Creek in Western Washington's King County.
    Common Pincushion (Dicranoweisia cir.. - 1
  • Close-up of the flower of Bailey's ballmoss. This airplant is an interesting medium-sized bromeliad native to the Lower Rio Grande Valley area in Texas and Northern Mexico that is usually found on the southern live oak or Texas ebony where it anchors itself into the tree's bark and gains nutrients from rainwater and whatever nutrients happen to land on them and their root anchor systems via wind and the weather. Like all bromeliads, these epiphytes do not harm the host tree, and are quite resistant to wind and storms. This one was one of many hundreds found in a growing in a Texas ebony (Ebenopsis ebano) in Harlingen, Texas on a warm springtime afternoon.
    Bailey's Ballmoss (Tillandsia baileyi)
  • Bailey's ballmoss is an interesting medium-sized bromeliad native to the Lower Rio Grande Valley area in Texas and Northern Mexico that is usually found on the southern live oak or Texas ebony where it anchors itself into the tree's bark and gains nutrients from rainwater and whatever nutrients happen to land on them and their root anchor systems via wind and the weather. Like all bromeliads, these epiphytes do not harm the host tree, and are quite resistant to wind and storms. This one was one of many hundreds found in a growing in a Texas ebony (Ebenopsis ebano) in Harlingen, Texas on a warm springtime afternoon.
    Bailey's Ballmoss (Tillandsia baileyi)
  • Bailey's ballmoss is an interesting medium-sized bromeliad native to the Lower Rio Grande Valley area in Texas and Northern Mexico that is usually found on the southern live oak or Texas ebony where it anchors itself into the tree's bark and gains nutrients from rainwater and whatever nutrients happen to land on them and their root anchor systems via wind and the weather. Like all bromeliads, these epiphytes do not harm the host tree, and are quite resistant to wind and storms. This one was one of many hundreds found in a growing in a Texas ebony (Ebenopsis ebano) in Harlingen, Texas on a warm springtime afternoon.
    Bailey's Ballmoss (Tillandsia baileyi)
  • Bailey's ballmoss is an interesting medium-sized bromeliad native to the Lower Rio Grande Valley area in Texas and Northern Mexico that is usually found on the southern live oak or Texas ebony where it anchors itself into the tree's bark and gains nutrients from rainwater and whatever nutrients happen to land on them and their root anchor systems via wind and the weather. Like all bromeliads, these epiphytes do not harm the host tree, and are quite resistant to wind and storms. This one was one of many hundreds found in a growing in a Texas ebony (Ebenopsis ebano) in Harlingen, Texas on a warm springtime afternoon.
    Bailey's Ballmoss (Tillandsia baileyi)
  • Close-up of the flower of Bailey's ballmoss. This airplant is an interesting medium-sized bromeliad native to the Lower Rio Grande Valley area in Texas and Northern Mexico that is usually found on the southern live oak or Texas ebony where it anchors itself into the tree's bark and gains nutrients from rainwater and whatever nutrients happen to land on them and their root anchor systems via wind and the weather. Like all bromeliads, these epiphytes do not harm the host tree, and are quite resistant to wind and storms. This one was one of many hundreds found in a growing in a Texas ebony (Ebenopsis ebano) in Harlingen, Texas on a warm springtime afternoon.
    Bailey's Ballmoss (Tillandsia baileyi)
  • Licorice ferns growing high up in a huge bigleaf maple in an ancient old-growth section of the Hoh Rain Forest on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. Found primarily in the Pacific Northwest, the roots of these evergreen ferns have been used medicinally for millennia by local native tribes, and can be found from Southern Alaska to parts of Arizona.
    Licorice Fern
  • Somewhat rare and found primarily in the wet conifer forests of the Pacific Northwest and limited parts of Idaho and Montana, this intricate coral lichen is found at medium to low elevations. This one was found in a forest just outside of Yelm, Washington on a cold, wet late winter morning.
    Tuckerman's Coral Lichen
  • A mixed lichen community completely covers a boulder in Eastern Washington's Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge - just south of Spokane.
    Lichen Community
  • A common fern found growing on trees and mossy rocks in the Pacific Northwest, the licorice fern is also one of the many unrelated plants around the world that contain the chemical glycyrrhizin, which gives it the taste of licorice. Historically the roots were chewed on by Native American tribe members as a hunger suppressant, particularly by hunters or those travelling across the land.
    Licorice Ferns
  • The bright yellowish-green patch on the cypress trunk consists of Chrysothrix candelaris, a species of crustose lichen. The greyish-white lichen is Cryptothecia evergladensis, a different type of crutose lichen. This tree with both species is growing in the Fakahatchee Strand of the Northwestern Everglades.
    Two Lichens
  • The so-called wolf lichen is a native fruticose lichenized fungus found in the Rocky Mountains, the Pacific Northwest and western Europe that gets its name from its historical use as wolf and fox poison in European cultures centuries ago. When mixed with meat and ground glass, it is reported to be deadly to all canines. Native tribes in the Pacific Northwest are said to have used it to make a yellow dye for furs, animal skins, feathers, etc. It was also used by some tribes to make poison arrowheads, while others it was used as a weak tea to treat stomach and other internal disorders. This one was photographed in the Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge just outside of Cheney, Washington.
    Wolf Lichen (Letharia vulpina)
  • This striking yellow fungus seen here in Eastern Washington near the Idaho border  is a type of lichenized fungus found growing on trees. The bright yellow color comes from pinastric and vulpinic acids - two substances only found in lichens that are believed to repel the insects and other wildlife that might eat it. According to Swedish peasant folklore, this lichen will kill foxes, but is completely safe for wolves and dogs.
    Brown-Eyed Sunshine (Vulpicida canad..sis)
  • The familiar winged seedpods (or samaras) of the bigleaf maple, ripened and dries, ready to split and helicopter off into the wind. Unlike other maples, the fuzzy coating covering the main part of the seed is actually quite spiky and burr-like. I found that out the hard way. This one was photographed in the riparian forest near the Nisqually River Delta near Olympia, WA.
    Bigleaf Maple Samaras
  • Acarospora socialis - pale yellow<br />
Candelariella aurella - bright yellow<br />
Xanthoria elegans - orange<br />
Caloplaca albovariegata - black/dark green<br />
Xanthoparmelia maricopensis - light gray/greenish<br />
Dimelaena oreina - pale green with black "blotches" (very tiny)
    Mojave Desert Lichen Community
  • Acarospora socialis - pale yellow<br />
Candelariella aurella - bright yellow<br />
Xanthoria elegans - orange<br />
Caloplaca albovariegata - black/dark green<br />
Xanthoparmelia maricopensis - light gray/greenish<br />
Dimelaena oreina - pale green with black "blotches" (very tiny)
    Mojave Desert Lichen Community
  • At least two types of crustose lichens cover this rock near Lake Wenatchee in Washington's Cascade Mountains.
    Crustose Lichens
  • This beautiful, fast-moving stream flows down from the heights of West Tiger Mountain just east of Renton, Washington where it joins the Raging River about a half-mile downstream.
    West Tiger Mountain Stream
  • The yellow-tipped coral is one of those odd and irregular-shaped mushrooms occasionally found in the wild. As many things in nature that are delicately beautiful, this is is known to be poisonous. This one was photographed in the fall on Mount Rainier.
    Yellow-Tipped Coral
  • These tiny mushrooms are very common in the mountain areas of the Pacific Northwest in the fall. These were photographed in a coniferous forest on Mount Rainier in Western Washington.
    Red-Orange Mycena
  • A common club lichen, the Lipstick Cladonia is named after the bright red apothecia or fruiting bodies that make this silvery-gray lichen stand out. Found usually on conifers and decaying trees, this one was photographed on the banks of the South Fork Snoqualmie River.
    Lipstick Cladonia
  • The small, vivid fading scarlet waxy cap is a very beautiful and common mushroom found worldwide in forests, on rotting logs, lawns, and grasslands.
    Fading Scarlet Waxy Cap
  • This wildly colorful community of mixed lichen and an (as yet) unidentified moss covered the basalt cliffs in rural Central Washington north of Ephrata in the middle of January.
    Lichen and Moss Community
  • This perfect specimen of a turkey-tail mushroom stands out beautifully against the wet green moss on a cold and damp Pacific Northwest winter day next to Soos Creek in Kent, Washington.
    Turkey-Tail (Trametes versicolor)
  • The western rattlesnake plantain orchid is a very common and often overlooked beautiful orchid found across all of the western provinces and states on North America (excluding Nevada) and is found natively in all of the eastern Canadian provinces and  reaches south into both Michigan and Maine that is generally associated with conifer forests and mountains that have abundant, deep leaf litter or moss. This one was found growing among many thousands of others blooming in northern Montana's Glacier National Park.
    Western Rattlesnake Plantain Orchid
  • The tiny Mycena clavicularis growing on a moss covered log on a chilly autumn morning on the forested slopes of Mount Rainier.
    Mycena clavicularis
  • A wolf spider - one of one of the many variable (and often hard to correctly identify) wolf spiders of North America. I'm pretty sure this is the species known as Tigrosa annexa. This one was scrambling across some dead leaves and fallen Spanish moss in the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge on a hot springtime afternoon near the US-Mexico border in Southern Texas, and paused for a brief second, just long enough for me to get this shot.
    Wolf Spider
  • The western rattlesnake plantain orchid is a very common and often overlooked beautiful orchid found across all of the western provinces and states on North America (excluding Nevada) and is found natively in all of the eastern Canadian provinces and  reaches south into both Michigan and Maine that is generally associated with conifer forests and mountains that have abundant, deep leaf litter or moss. This one was found growing among many thousands of others blooming in northern Montana's Glacier National Park.
    Western Rattlesnake Plantain Orchid
  • Working alongside mushrooms and other fungi, banana slugs are detritivores that help turn decaying matter into soil humus. They eat leaves, dead plant materials, moss, fungi, and animal droppings and help in the movement of nutrients throughout the forest and prefer mushrooms over other foods, much to the detriment of human mushroom foragers. Because slugs do not have teeth, food is broken down using its ribbon-like radula, which works like a millstone to grind food into smaller and smaller particles that are then ingested. This one was found in a disturbed suburban park in Kent, Washington.
    Pacific Banana Slug
  • A slug found on the side of a moss and lichen covered tree in the Fakahatchee Strand.
    Fakahatchee Slug
  • The western rattlesnake plantain orchid is a very common and often overlooked beautiful orchid found across all of the western provinces and states on North America (excluding Nevada) and is found natively in all of the eastern Canadian provinces and  reaches south into both Michigan and Maine that is generally associated with conifer forests and mountains that have abundant, deep leaf litter or moss. This one was found growing among many thousands of others blooming in northern Montana's Glacier National Park.
    Western Rattlesnake Plantain Orchid
  • The tiny Mycena clavicularis growing on a moss covered log on a chilly autumn morning on the forested slopes of Mount Rainier.
    Mycena clavicularis
  • This tiny, incredibly small bright yellow mushroom is common in Western Europe, but can be found in North America in cold, wet, montane environments. This one found on top of a moss-covered log next to the Greenwater River in Washington's Cascade Mountains among the patches of snow. It is purported that this species can even exhibit some bioluminescent properties in the dark!
    Yellowleg Bonnet (Mycena epipterygia)
  • This attractive little autumnal moth was found on the side of a moss-covered tree stump in Bellevue, Washington on a fall afternoon. Very common, all in North America and Europe, it is highly variable in color and pattern and is associated with birch trees.
    Autumnal Moth (Epirrita autumnata)
  • A fresh, new western shelf mushroom growing on a moss-covered stump in an virgin forest area in the Hoh Rain Forest. Sometimes known as chicken-of-the-woods, this mushroom is edible and eaten by many.
    Western Sulphur Shelf
  • The Hoh Rain Forest on Washington's Olympic Peninsula is one of the most amazing places in North America to see enormous masses of ferns and mosses. Deer ferns are common throughout the Pacific Northwest and these were found growing in an old-growth part of the forest that is untouched by the logging industry. Native American hunters traditionally used these as a hunger suppressant, and are an important food source for elk in winter.
    Deer Fern
  • Close up of the male stalks of the common horsetail. Widespread across almost all of North America, these unusual plants reproduce by spores - much like that of ferns and mosses.
    Common Horsetail