26 MOSSES AND LIVERWORTS 



of the rocks, their altitude above sea-level, and 

 other similar matters, have an important bearing, 

 and 1 details such as these must be learned either 

 from books, or, better still, from the experience 

 which time and a close companionship with 

 Nature will alone bring. 



Seasons for Gathering. As it is well to be 

 conversant with the kind of place to which our 

 search for treasure should be directed, so the 

 further question, "When should we look for 

 mosses ? " is not without its importance. To this 

 I should be inclined to answer, " Always ; at any 

 time " ; for it is not the least among the many 

 attractions that this particular study offers, that 

 there is no " close time " for mosses, and even 

 when the trees have been stripped of their leaves 

 by the winter's frosts and winds, and the snow 

 lies thickly upon the ground, the small green 

 cushions on roof and wall bristling perhaps with 

 pale yellow stalks which betoken the coming 

 fruit, or studded with the pretty cup-like heads of 

 the newly formed spore-vessels show that there 

 is plenty abroad to interest a moss-student, and 

 serve to remind us of the time when the woods 

 will be green again, and the glory of the summer- 

 time will be with us once more. 



But though to a lover of mosses a walk in the 

 country at any season can never be without interest, 

 yet there are certain times of the year that have a 

 peculiar attraction for him, for it is when they are 



