The Society publishes a quarterly journal distributed worldwide, The Bryologist, which includes articles on all aspects of the biology of mosses, hornworts, liverworts and lichens.

[1] The Society also publishes the quarterly journal Evansia, which is intended for both amateurs and professionals in bryology and lichenology and is focused on North America.

The organization was established soon after the first publication of The Bryologist, which evolved from a serial started by Grout in collaboration with Willard Nelson Clute.

Smith was a central figure in the organization in the early years, contributing much time, energy, and money.

[3] In 1970, William Louis Culberson oversaw the change of the name of the organization to the American Bryological and Lichenological Society.