The Fascination of Flowers [ 335 



Mosses Favor Moist Places 



There is a shrub known as the "flowering moss," but you can 

 be sure it is not really moss no moss bears flowers. The so-called 

 flowering moss merely suggests moss in a superficial way because 

 of its appearance. 



Mosses, like mushrooms, produce spores. The moss spore grows 

 a branched green thread on which leafy buds soon appear. They 

 develop further into leafy stems which in turn produce rootlike 

 projections not true roots. Some of the plants bear eggs at their 

 leaf tips while others produce sperms. Wind, or films of water 

 supplied by rain or dew, may bring sperm and egg together. After 

 fertilization they develop delicate upright stalks on which spore 

 cases full of green-colored spores will form. 



THE Moss AS A COMPASS 



In June you can generally see mosses in all stages of devel- 

 opment. Usually you find moss only in rather moist places, on 

 woodland floors and on rocks and tree trunks where strong sun- 

 light does not penetrate. The American Indians commonly used 

 this bit of nature lore to determine their direction moss usually 

 grows on the northern side of tree trunks where there is least 

 exposure to sunlight. 



THE BEST-KNOWN Moss 



What is probably the best-known moss has several names: 

 common hair-cap, bird wheat, or pigeon wheat moss. It grows not 

 only in woods but in open fields and meadows as well as in all 

 parts of North America; it is found also in Europe and Asia. It 

 is rather a large moss with stems a foot long, and in fall or winter 

 you will see it as a greenish-brown mass of bristling stems. 



By the arrival of summer the new growth tips these with vivid 

 green. During dry spells the small leaves shut lengthwise into 

 mere threads and huddle against the stem to prevent their 

 moisture from evaporating. After a rain they open up again. In 

 Europe this moss is used for making small brooms and for 

 mattresses. 



