Elizabeth C. Wright (1826–1882) graduated from Alfred University in 1855. She was an environmental scientist, educator, author, and social reform activist. Emily E. VanDette is Professor of English at the State University of New York at Fredonia and the author of Sibling Romance in American Fiction, 1835–1900. Laurie Lounsberry Meehan is Librarian and University Archivist at Alfred University.

• New IntroductionEmily E. VanDetteInto the Woods,The Nature Cure—for the Body,The Nature Cure—for the Mind,The Perfection of the Natural,A Pilgrim Pagan,A Dream Anthem,The Lost Lake,"Love in a Cottage,"The Dual Spirit,A Word to the Weary,By the Mississippi,Sacrament,Make not Poyerty's Cup too Bitter,To-Day,Summer Friendship,By the Sea-Side,I'll Tell You, Coz!,Pity,Twain,Voices,Beautiful Life,Phantom Building,"Liberty—Equality—Brotherhood,"The Picture on the Wall,One April Eye,By a Lake Side,The Death Watch,Our Own Old Woods,Snow Song,Martha,Star-Beams in Shadow Land,Stagnation,Lullaby,Sheaves of Time's Harvest,A Voice from Afar,Anniversary Letter,Anniversary Letter,Modern Fairies,Fragment,Vigil Lessons,Life's Nooning Song,The Moon of Blossoms in Prairie Land,A Reverie,Alter Ego,AfterwordLaurie Lounsberry Meehan

"…Wright's collection of essays and poetry is ripe for scholarly uptake and classroom discussion, particularly in the fields of American literary studies, women's and gender studies, new materialism, and the environmental humanities … this new edition of Lichen Tufts welcomes not just recovery and other scholarly analyses of Wright's work, but also broader investigations into this lesser-studied nineteenth-century community of intellectual and activist life." — H-Net Reviews (H-Environment)