MOSS

30th January 2024

Photo Credit: schindlerfotos (Getty Images), CANVA

Polytrichium commune

QUOTATION

With fairest flowers,

Whilst summer lasts and I live here, Fidele,

I’ll sweeten thy sad grave

…

Yea, and furred moss besides,

when flowers are none

To winter-ground thy corse.

AVIRAGUS: Cymbeline, Act 4, Scene 2

MOSS (c.1000 species of Bryophytes in the UK)

Moss in the quotation above is used to decorate a winter grave. Shakespeare also describes Moss covering steeples and ancient Oak branches. In Titus Andronicus Moss and baleful Mistletoe grow in the dark forests of Rome where foul murder is done.

There UK has an extremely rich Moss flora in the Temperate Rainforests, or Atlantic or Celtic Rainforest as well as in many other habitats. There are over 1000 recorded Bryophyte (Moss & Liverwort) species in the UK and 19% of them are classed as threatened with extinction in a 2023 assessment.

More Information

British Bryological Society: Visit Site

Des A. Callaghan (2022) A new IUCN Red List of the bryophytes of Britain,2023, Journal of Bryology, 44:4, 271-3 (access article)

Moss Safari: Resources & Training for Teachers

Woodland Trust: Mosses