178 THE FLOWERLESS PLANTS. 



ing and thawing in winter, and of drought in summer. 

 Hence certain plants blossom more luxuriantly in a bed 

 of mosses than in the unoccupied soil. 



The mosses are seldom found in cultivated lands. As 

 they grow entirely on the shallow surface, the labors of 

 the tiller of the soil are fatal to them. They delight in 

 old woods, in moist barren pastures, in solitary moorlands, 

 and in all unfrequented places. In those situations they 

 remain fresh and beautiful, while they prepare for the 

 higher vegetable tribes many a barren spot, that must 

 otherwise remain forever without its plant. They are, 

 therefore, the pioneers of vegetable life ; and Nature, when 

 she selects an uncongenial tract to be made productive 

 of fruits or flowers, covers the surface with a close tex- 

 ture of moss, and variegates it with lichens, before she 

 strews the seeds of the higher plants to vegetate among 

 their roots. The wise husbandman, who, by a careful rota- 

 tion of crops, causes his land to be constantly productive, 

 is but an humble imitator of Nature's great principle of 

 action. 



The mosses have never been made objects of extensive 

 cultivation by our florists. Every rambler in the wild 

 wood knows their value and their beauty, which seem to 

 have been overlooked by the cultivator. They undoubt- 

 edly possess qualities that might be rendered valuable for 

 purposes of artificial embellishment. There is no tree 

 with foliage of so perfect a green tint as that of the moss 

 which covers the roofs of very old buildings. The mossy 

 knolls in damp woods are peculiarly attractive on ac- 

 count of their verdure, and the fine velvety softness of 

 their pleasantly rounded surface. Though the mosses 

 produce no flowers, the little germs that grow on the ex- 

 tremities of their hair-like stems are perfect jewels. With 

 them, however, it is the stem that exhibits the most beau- 

 ty of hues, varying from a deep yellow to a clear and 



