Moss and Lichen, Sourlands Ecosystem Preserve

This set of images was taken during a spring nature hike hosted by the Sourland Conservancy. I captured these on a Kenko auto-extension tube attached to my AF-S Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX. Most of the images are shot at f/8 and I used my Nikon SB-600 Speedlight flash to add some extra lighting.

According to Wikipedia mosses and lichens are quite different.

Mosses are small flowerless plants that typically grow in dense green clumps or mats, often in damp or shady locations. The individual plants are usually composed of simple, one-cell thick leaves, attached to a stem that may be branched or unbranched and has only a limited role in conducting water and nutrients.Moss

While Lichen:

A lichen is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria (or both) living among filaments of a fungus in a symbiotic relationship. The combined life form has properties that are very different from the properties of its component organisms.Lichen

Unlike most plants, mosses do not have seeds, are non-vascular, and absorb water and nutrients mainly through their leaves, harvesting carbon dioxide and sunlight to create food by photosynthesis (like plants).