EARTIT COVERINGS 
287 
the earth coverings—the mosses. Mountain, 
shore, plain, and meadow, each has its peculiar 
dress, and why not those spots of the dense 
woods where the straggling sunlight falls pale 
and broken on rocks and prostrate tree-trunks ? 
The grasses and flowers will not grow there, 
save in isolated spots ; the ground is too damp, 
the shade too dense. But these are the con- 
ditions of existence for those velvety growths 
with pin-like awns called the mosses. Flower- 
less, scentless, not brilliant in hue, and so hum- 
ble in stature that we tread them under foot 
without seeing them, yet what a beautiful and 
perfect earth covering they make! Perhaps 
because they do not grow high they grow 
thick, forming a complete sod that rains and 
running waters cannot readily wash away. 
It is not a coarsely woven covering made up 
of many rough growths, but a compactly con- 
structed mass. In these growths, which are 
placed where few see them, tucked away under 
rock bases, bunched about the roots of the 
great pines, or hidden under thick brush, 
it might be thought that nature would spare 
effort in perfecting the forms with nicety. 
But, no; every hair-root, every spore, every 
stem is wrought with a skill and a beauty 
The 
mosses. 
Moss 
structure 
