The Collection

The Montana Bryophyte Collection includes over 4,500 mosses, liverworts and hornworts from throughout the northwest United States and beyond. Notable collectors such as W.B. Schofield, T. C. Frye, F. J. Hermann, and Joe Elliott have contributed specimens to MONTU. Label information for Montana specimens is available to view through the Consortium of Bryophyte Herbaria database where over 3,300 mosses from Montana have been digitized. Our collection is one of the most extensive in the state of Montana and houses many rare species such as Sphagnum warnstorfii and Haplodontium macrocarpum. Giovanna Bishop, the MONTU Curator, did her masters work with bryophytes in Eastern Washington and is a fantastic resource for those interested in learning how to identify bryophytes and learn more about them. 

See the History, Biogeography, and Species of Montana Mosses (1880-2018), a publication by Joe Elliott and Andrea Pipp that presents an extensive overview of this subject.  The article also includes a recent (2018) checklist of Montana mosses. Bryology in Montana has an extensive history, however there are still counties such as Liberty, Wheatland, and Treasure that do not have any taxa or collections known to exist there as many places in Montana are left to explore. 

To view the MONTU Bryophyte collection see this link to the Consortium of Bryophyte Herbaria