Lichens and Mosses in Art

Botanical art is not uncommon, and sometimes you even see drawings of mushrooms, but lichens are rarely seen. This original art was given to me by a very special person.

Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) was a prolific and influential biologist and artist who, among other things, first used the word “ecology.” This marvelous mess of mosses is from his1899 Kunstformen der Natur (“Art Forms in Nature”) See Splachnum luteum in the center of the montage.

-Ray Showman