Excluding Algae. See separate entries for FERNS, FUNGI and SLIME-MOULDS (below). Note that there is relatively little Australian literature on these groups, particularly handbooks, and that we are often dependent on overseas books for identifications. Fortunately these plants tend to have wider, intercontinental distributions, so these books are often of use in Australia down to genus level and sometimes even to species. Note also that full identification (to species) may require the use of high-power microscopy; nevertheless, practised use of a 10x handlens can get you a long way.
Jahns, H.M. Collins guide to the ferns, mosses and lichens of Britain and northern and central Europe. Collins (UK) 1983. (Transl. from the German edition publ. by BLV Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Munich 1980.) [Outlines the physical structure and reproductive biology of each group, including hepatics despite their omission from the title. Contains keys to European species, with basic descriptions and photographs.]
Nicholson, B.E. & F.H. Brightman The Oxford book of flowerless plants - Ferns, Fungi, Mosses and Liverworts, Lichens and Seaweeds. Oxford Univ. Press, rev'd edn 1979. [Habit paintings and basic descriptions of British species found in various habitats, e.g. grasslands.]
Phillips, R. Grasses, Ferns, Mosses and Lichens of Great Britain and Ireland. Pan Books (London), 1980. [Photographs and basic species descriptions of species in each group, including liverworts.]
Boedijn, K.B. Plants of the world - the lower plants. Chanticleer Press, 1965 ... English transl. (by A.J. Pomerans) Dutton & Co. New York & Thames & Hudson, London, 1968. [Outlines structure of the plants of each group, with diagrams and photographs: Bacteriophyta, Caryophyta, Algae, Myxophyta asnd Acrasiophyta, Mycophyta, Lichens, Bryophyta, Pteridophyta.]
Malcolm, B. & N. Malcolm The forest carpet - New Zealand's little-noticed forest plants - mosses, lichens, liverworts, hornworts, forkferns, and lycopods. Craig Potton, N.Z., 1989. [Colour photos with close-up camera and microscope; general discussion of ecology and structure interspersed.]
Schofield, W.B. Introduction to bryology. Macmillan, 1985. [Detailed biology of mosses and hepatics which aims to be an " ...introduction to a fundamental understanding of the bryophytes." Contains a comprehensive introduction to the structure, inter-relationships, and evolutionary trends. Many clear and detailed illustrations.]
Vitt, D.H., J.E. Marsh & R.B. Bovey Mosses, lichens and ferns of northwest North America. Lone Pine Publishing, (Edmonton, Alberta) 1988. [Gives structure and biology of each group, with keys to and descriptions of species occurring in the area.]