Sandy Hook ferns, moss, lichen, Red Coats, British soldiers - Brookdale College Ocean Institute

Ferns, Moss and Lichens
Non-vascular and lower vascular plants at Sandy Hook.

Lichens are the first and simplest "terrestrial" plants found growing on rocks and bulkheads, just above the high tide mark on the bayside. They are rugged pioneers and "composite plants" composed of algae and fungi living together. These symbiotic creatures inhabit some of the most inhospitable places on earth, including mountaintops and the polar regions.

	Lichens are classified into three groups based on the shape of their vegetative body (crustose, foliose, fruiticose). Crustose (crust-like) forms are the most common and colorful, covering wood pilings (Above) , trees (Left) and the cement walls of Ft. Hancock's gun batteries (Below).
Crustose lichens are often mistaken for paint stains on walls and trees. (Right) Foliose ( "Leaf-like") types can be found on tree branches and some are very attractive when viewed through a magnifying glass. (Below)


	Lichens, like the Pixie-cups (Right) are common in poor soils where little else can grow. They are slow but efficient soil builders and break down rocks and accumulate enough organic material to allow higher plants to grow.
	(Left) "British soldiers" or "Red-coats" are also common on the ground, especially in the poor soils of the Poverty-grass areas of Sandy Hook. (Below) Fructicose lichens are most conspicuous growing on trees. These are more common along the coast farther north.


	(Above) Some fructicose types are also found on the ground in moist areas. (Right) A close-up of "reindeer-moss." (Below) Bryophytes include the tiny mosses and liverworts. Moss can be found on the ground and on tree trunks. They reproduce with primitive flower-like structures like the antheridial heads in Polytrichum (Below, left).

	(Left) The tiny stalks sent up by moss are the seta which support a sporangium, part of the reproductive process. (Below) Mosses react quickly to environmental conditions. They shrivel to retain water when the air is dry or during the day; and absorb it in a short time and open up when the air is moist or after a rain.

Lawn mosses dry up during the summer but thrive in the cool and wet seasons.	A close-up view of the "fruiting" bodies of moss.
All of these plants spread by wind-borne spores that come from the mainland and settle in the few places where they have little competition from higher plants. To see lower plants like algae, click here.	Ferns and liverworts are not common on Sandy Hook but can be found in a few moist areas, and cracks and crevices around the fortifications at Fort Hancock. To see higher, flowering plants, click here.