70 FLOWERLESS PLANTS 



Like lichens, mosses are well able to hold 

 their own in inconvenient situations. Within 

 limits it seems almost impossible to kill certain 

 kinds. The various species which make their 

 homes upon rocks, walls, or roofs are sub- 

 jected to a terrilic ordeal of heat and drjoiess 

 during the summer months ; yet with the 

 return of the wet weather they become delight- 

 fully green in a short while. In a general way 

 one very important matter which helps the 

 mosses to conserve their moisture is the habit 

 of growing in colonies. A very slight knowledge 

 of mosses will tell us that it is a common fea- 

 ture for these plants to grow crowded together, 

 quite often — as is the case with the Common 

 Hair Moss — forming large cushions. Apart from 

 this, many species have special cells in their 

 construction, expressly designed for the pur- 

 pose of storing water. Everybody who has 

 been in a fir or a beech wood has noticed the 

 rounded cushions of the white-leaved Fork 

 Moss. They are pleasant to feel, and it is a 

 natural thing to pick them up. One of their 

 most striking features is that they are quite 

 moist on the under side, even though we may 

 have had weeks of dry summer weather. By 



