Collection of 395 lichen specimens from five sites in southeast Iowa resulted in the identification of 150 species. Of these, 18 were species that had not been previously reported for the State of Iowa. Integration of these collections with previous records from a total of 30 herbaria allowed the estimate of 465 lichen species reported for Iowa. Lack of recent collection suggests that 33 of these species may be rare in, or extirpated from, the state. Measurement of elemental concentrations was carried out in 8 populations of Parmotrema species from Shimek State Forest in southeast Iowa. The average elemental concentrations were 1.4 mg/g for phosphorus, 2.6 mg/g for potassium, 0.7 mg/g for iron, 2.8 mg/g for sulfur and 14.6 mg/g for nitrogen. Elemental concentrations were not significantly related to distance from forest edge.