The last flowers have left, most trees are bare, and oak leaves have gone crisp. But now the trails flush green. The season of mosses is upon us.
Every day, the path feels softer underfoot, though I avoid stepping on the moss as much as I can, out of respect. The greens seem brighter now. Is it just that my eyes are waking up? Noticing plants that didn’t catch my attention in summer?
Puzzling mosses
We have about 279 kinds of mosses in Iowa, and they stay green all winter. These are tiny plants. The differences between species are seldom visible from eye level. I’ve been trying to learn to identify them for a few years. Most are not easy.
One easy moss
But Fern Moss is a snap. It looks like a mass of miniature ferns, all jumbled together. It’s easy to recognize.
I find Fern Moss on damp woodland trails that curve along the bottom of a hill. Because water seeps downslope, the moss can find the moisture it needs there. Sometimes the green rises up and carpets a soggy log.
Deer kicks
Fern Moss is thriving even though it gets stepped on all the time by wild animals. I always find loose green scraps, like bits of cloth, where deer bound along the trail and kick up patches. I think the moss actually likes when that happens. It helps the moss to spread.
Rhizoids, not roots
Threadlike brownish rhizoids on the underside of the moss hold the Fern Moss in place, but just barely. It’s so loosely attached to the ground that you can easily slip your fingers under it and lift it up like a handkerchief. Unlike most other plants, mosses have no roots.
Mosses don’t depend on their rhizoids for water or nutrition. Because moss leaves are tiny and only one cell thick, they can soak up nutrients and water directly from the air. They capture energy from the sun by means of photosynthesis.
Moss gives to the birds
Many birds use Fern Moss and other mosses in their nests, such as the Black-capped Chickadees that nest in my birdhouse. When I opened its door, I saw a chickadee nest inside, resting on a thick cushion made of mosses that the parent birds had gathered. A perfect nursery for a family of baby birds.
The season of mosses
Nature offers something marvelous in every season. As winter comes on, moss brings a sort of second springtime. Mosses are always present but often go unnoticed until a winter’s day lets them shine.
I love my fern moss! The armadillos like to dig through it for grubs.
Thank you for the great pictures and information about fern moss. It certainly is a beautiful moss! I understand that we may not want moss on our roof, but I am all for it most other places! I wonder if it could be transplanted by scooping into the soil below the moss and quickly resettling it soil and all in its new location? Thought I might mention that a local (and Wonderful!) gardening guru of many years in the PacNW named Chico Morris also loved moss. I remember he once noted that he was able to start moss on rocks and logs by blending moss and buttermilk in a blender and then pouring the mixture wherever he wanted moss to be! Not sure this would be a good method to use with fern moss. But it might be worth a try.