Book Review - Common Lichens of the Upland Southeast: Appalachia and the Piedmont - Princeton Field Guides

 

     It is probably a broadly accurate statement that lichens are familiar to everyone, but understood by few, and identified by almost no one! This is the book to rectify this serious shortcoming in your life as a naturalist.

     Armed with a device as simple as a hand lens, the text will enable you to identify virtually any lichen you are likely to encounter. The book is devoted to the lichen-rich area of the southeastern regions of the United States, but the principles enunciated in it are broadly applicable to lichens anywhere. 

     Lichens are a symbiosis of two organisms in one. Already this should pique your interest! Lichens are fungi, but uniquely have photosynthesizing cells of algae or cyanobacteria embedded within them. They thrive on almost any surface, even under extreme conditions, from scorching desert to polar barrens, on rocks, trees, soil, the discarded junk of humankind - virtually everywhere. They are the principal source of food for the great herds of caribou eking out an existence in an arctic winter.

     The book has an extensive introductory section, mostly devoid of technical language, enabling a total novice to gain a complete understanding of lichens. The structure of the organism is fully explained and the key ways to clinch identification laid out for you. A few practice sessions with a lichen familiar to your area would boost your confidence in very short order.

     The incredible range of coloured photographs reveals the lichens of the Upland Southeast in all their glorious diversity. For people who reside in these areas, or spend vacation time there, a whole new realm of nature awaits your investigation, and the mysteries of that red growth on a glacial erratic will be revealed. Lichens abound in cities, too, so exciting discoveries and expanded knowledge are available to everyone.

     Like all other life forms on Planet Earth lichens are facing threats to their continued existence, some hitherto unknown. The Anthropocene is ushering in perils not seen before, not the least of which is rising temperatures. We need to allocate the same dedication and resources to preserving lichens as we do to other organisms. 

     In 2024, Princeton University Press published The Lives of Lichens: A Natural History, a constant source of reference for me. With the addition of this present work you will be well equipped to become the lichenologist in your group!

     And you'll have fun doing it!

Common Lichens of the Upland Southeast: Appalachia and the Piedmont - Princeton Field Guides

James Lendemer and Jason P. Hollinger

Paperback - US$35.00 - ISBN 9780691230733

496 pages - 5.875 x 8.25 inches (14.69 x 20.625 cm)

1,000 + colour photographs - 350 maps

Publication date: 29 September, 2026