Mosses and Lichens 



The fact that at the present time the lichens and mosses are 

 the first plants to appear on the soil, leads one to think that in 

 ages gone by these little plants may have been the first to appear 

 on the earth, and that they may have reigned supreme for a time 

 in the plant world. This view is not sustained by positive tes- 

 timony from the rocks, as there is no fossil evidence that mosses 

 existed in Paleozoic times, nor has any certain trace of a moss 

 been found in the coal-measures. Fossil mosses have been 

 obtained almost entirely from tertiary and quaternary deposits. 



Notwithstanding that there is no fossil evidence that mosses 

 did exist, there is no evidence that they did not exist, as their 

 absence from the plant records written in the older formations is 

 probably to be accounted for by reason of their insignificant size 

 and the difficulty of their preservation. 



Another use the lichens and mosses subserve in the economy 

 of Nature is illustrated by their habit of retaining great quantities 

 of water in their spongy mass both on lofty mountain heights and 

 in the forests of the valleys. 



In many parts of the world it is principally the moss-covered 

 soil of the forests which, by collecting the rainfall, prevents the 

 pouring down from mountains of violent and excessive torrents 

 of water. 



Above the tree-line, in slight depressions on the sloping, 

 rocky mountain sides, one may often find extensive patches of 

 Sphagnum-moss and Reindeer-lichens which are crisp and dry 

 on the surface, and yet retain so much water in their matted 

 bases as to render it possible for one to obtain a supply of clear 

 water. From areas of moss more extensive and of greater depth, 

 tiny rills often trickle on their way to join other rills of similar 

 origin. The sources of many a babbling brook or purling spring 

 in the valley may be traced to the supersaturated moss-bed of a 

 mountain forest. 



" Desolate ledges, frost-riven and bare, 

 A tiny rivulet bore on their breast ; 

 Cloud-gray mosses and lichens fair 



Mutely besought her to slumber and rest.'' 



Willis Boyd Allen. 



" Thou hastenest down between the hills to meet me at the road, 

 The secret scarcely lisping of thy beautiful abode 

 Among the pines and mosses of yonder shadowy height, 

 Where thou dost sparkle into song, and fill the woods with light " 



Lucy Larcom. 



16 



