Hello, everyone! I'm new to the world of lichens, and I would really appreciate recommendations for a microscope to look at lichens and small vascular plants. Brands and models for simple digital microscopes with USB ports, as well as brands and models for traditional dissecting scopes I can keep in mind while shopping surplus sales are all welcome. Thank you so much!

I agree that AmScope is a pretty good choice for a introductory level microscope and they have lots of different options in terms of magnification and camera ports, etc.  

I am a board member of the San Francisco Microscopical Society (https://sfmicrosociety.org/) and a membership ($12 or free for students) gives access to a Slack channel where one can post questions about anything related to purchasing or using microscopes and get feedback from our membership.  We also have in person and virtual meetings and can lend microscopes to folks who live nearby.   We are an all-volunteer group, so I am not getting paid to plug this! :)

Maybe I've tried the wrong models, but USB microscopes have always disappointed me. I much prefer a dissecting scope (and taking a photo with my phone through the eyepiece) at home and a triplet lens and/or macro photography setup in the field. An Olympus TG camera (great macro ability, geotagging, and waterproof) works great and IMO does everything a USB microscope should do but doesn't.

I use an old Bausch and Lomb Stereozoom 7 at home and it gets the job done. I can't recommend dissecting scopes enough!