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Sphagnum moss H a

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P The water holding capacity of Sphagnum is up to twenty o

l y y y Buo anc and want to know more ? t times its dry weight and humans have made use of this r i c

h in many ways. It has been used to treat boils and dress

a Bronze and Iron Age boat builders used s

t The wild and wonderful world of r wounds in Britain for centuries. It holds water well To find more about mosses, liverworts and hornworts in u moss as a filler (known as caulking). m

s and is cool, soothing and mildly antiseptic. This continued in Scotland until the e

your area, contact your local council rangers, the British x a 19th Century. n

g Sphagnum moss is still used commercially in the Bryological Society (www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk), u l a gardening industry, for example to line hanging r e

or Plantlife Scotland. Humble but tough

baskets or in Christmas wreaths. Harvesting Sphagnum Scottish Mosses moss on a commercial scale causes severe damage Insulation Bryophytes look modest, but can be to Scotland’s fragile peatlands, as the moss forms the Moss was used by ancient and Roman extremely tough. Some mosses can basis of this endangered habitat. The good news is © survive extreme drought for up to twenty L liverworts and hornworts people to pack the walls of stone houses, a there is no need to buy Sphagnum moss or peat u years and then recover. They can adapt r i

particularly near the chimney, to keep e

products. There are many excellent alternatives – their structure to seasonally changing C the wind out and to prevent heat from a try using coir mats, compressed waste paper, woollen Cleft Bog-moss m conditions of water, light and temperature. p

Sphagnum setting fire to the wooden frame. Often b e

liners, hay, foam or moss raked from your lawn instead. riparium l the Greater Water-moss was used, They have even been known to continue l By refusing to buy Sphagnum or peat products, we The Scottish Moss Collection Code gives up to date which explains its Latin name growing at minus nine degrees centigrade. show our disapproval of the destruction of our Fontinalis antipyretica . information on collecting bryophytes important peat bog habitats. © © E C L loud and can be viewed on the Forest Harvest Website: n o D Our fragile and endangered Scottish peat bogs are rn d a Ea e i Fo rwo

v u v r G home to many species of bryophytes, particularly ntain t i e

www.forestharvest.org.uk/guidelines/mosscode.htm i d

l

P Sphagnum mosses l, G App S e le-m N e os l s n H l i n a e P y e l l i Join Plantlife today to help us protect a Little and

e large Peat extraction n

d Climate i

v Mosses are not all small. i and drainage of i Our

our beautiful Scottish bryophytes f

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l The Common Haircap ( Polytrichum i a peat bogs commune ) can have shoots up to beautiful 80 centimetres tall and the aquatic Greater Water-moss ( Fontinalis bryophytes antipyretica ) can be over a metre long. These giants contrast with Road are Inappropriate tiny short lived species like the planting of earth and bladder mosses that improvements BRITISH are only a few millimetres high. threatened forests LICHEN Dwarf bladder-moss These things pose a threat SOCIETY Dwarf Bladder-moss (Physcomitrium sphaericum ) Physcomitrium sphaericum to many of our species. Plantlife Scotland would like to thank Gordon Rothero and Scottish Natural Heritage for the Naturally Scottish usually grows to only two or three Series book, Mosses and Liverworts, which was an inspiration for this leaflet and is available from SNH Publications. millimetres tall. All photos copyright Gordon Rothero unless otherwise specified Invasive Construction of ISBN: 978-1-904749-45-5 species especially hydro-electric Ice-man Rhododendron schemes and © October 2008 ‘Ötsi’, the 5,000-year-old body of a hunter found in ponticum wind farms on Plantlife Scotland, Balallan House, Allan Park, Stirling FK8 2QG an Austrian glacier had large quantities of moss inappropriate sites Tel +44 (0)1786 478509 stuffed inside his clothing, for insulation but also as Loss of wayside Infrastructure and hedgerow for tourist Email scotland @plantlife.org.uk a packing material for his food. He will also probably ot www.plantlife.org.uk have used moss for bedding. developments Fo tish trees ird's oss ot oss Plantlife International – The Wild Plant Conservation Charity is a charitable company limited by guarantee. B g-m Sc -m Registered Charity Number: 1059559 Charity registered in Scotland Number: SCO38951 in wild places Win ard Registered Company Number: 3166339, registered in England. Be Endive Pellia Pellia endiviifolia is a liverwort that grows in calcareous (lime-rich) © C G B Bryophytes places. It grows by o r a e L n liverworts c watercourses, by a o a k t c u Bryophytes l

is the collective name given g e springs, and in flushes, S r r p i c e o h e on shaded tracks and

u C a n you might see n l a t u woodland rides, in fens d e m m

d I p m

and dune slacks, on L c b o i a e v n

mosses g moist floors of chalk l e i l e c

to , and r : u w in Scotland quarries and on

m hornwo rts o r dripping rock outcrops. t Greater Fork-moss Scotland’s amazing green carpet Dicranum majus is a large and common © woodland species. Da Bryophytes are everywhere in Scotland. Our cool, damp climate and vid mosses Lo unpolluted air is paradise for these plants. ng ©D av id They add colour to the most mundane of places as well as to extreme G e n hornwort n Marsh e habitats like our mountain tops. y Forklet-moss Carolina Hornwort Dichodontium Phaeoceros Bryophytes are more frequent and diverse in Scotland than any other palustre Notched Rustwort Marsupella emarginata carolinianus part of the UK and most parts of Europe. is a delicate moss is delicate liverwort, common in wet or damp is a hornwort that of wet burnsides acid places, often by streams or rivers. grows in damp stubble in mountains. fields, on fallow land, There are just under one thousand species of moss and liverwort ditch sides and woodland in Scotland, including some only found in Scotland, such as Scottish tracks. The green stalks or Beard-moss ( Bryoerythrophyllum caledonicum ) and Scottish 'horns' are the female ....and some organ of the liverwort and Thread-moss ( Pohlia scotica ). each contains an egg cell. very rare

Bryophytes carpet the whole of Scotland. The wet heaths of the British Isles Scotland is the only place in the Look out for the amazing green pillows of are the only place in the world where world where you will find the Common Haircap Polytrichum commune bryophtes you this characteristic coastal moss, Seaside you will find Skye Bog-moss rare Scottish Beard-moss is one of our largest mosses. Grimmia ( Schistidium maritimum ), on (Sphagnum skyense ). (Bryoerythrophyllum caledonicum ). seashore boulders. might not see Frizzled Crisp-moss What are bryophytes ? Tortella tortuosa is a common species Bryophytes are an extremely old group of plants, dating back some 450 million of lime-rich rocks. years. All land plants have probably developed from the original bryophytes. Bryophytes sometimes reproduce sexually, producing stems with capsules on r lo ay top that release millions of spores. They can also regenerate from stems and t T ar w leaves that break off and start to grow. Some have evolved specialised deciduous te S

© parts called bulbils or gemmae, all of which can grow to form a clone of the Round-fruited parent plant and make new plants. Collar Moss Splachnum Curled Notchwort Bryophytes are versatile plants. They not only grow in damp woodlands, but sphaericum Anastrophylum saxicola can also colonise rock surfaces, tree trunks, mine spoil, concrete, roof tiles, A moss common is a rare liverwort of dry on sheep dung in scree slopes in the Take time to stop and ponder Cairngorm area. tarmac and reservoir mud. They help to stabilise slopes, like sand dunes and the small things. The delicate mire areas. screes. They provide habitat and humidity for a remarkable diversity of insects beauty of liverworts like this Great Scented Liverwort and spiders. (Conocephalum conicum ) is easily Greater Water-moss Fontinalis antipyretica Blytt's Rock Moss Andreaea blyttii Green Shield-moss overlooked. It grows on wet sites, Buxbaumia viridis sometimes coating the banks The waving fronds are a common sight in rivers and lochs. is a very rare species growing on flat rocks FRONT COVER PHOTOS: Bird’s Foot Wing-moss Pterogonium gracile, Cloud Earwort Scapania nimbosa, of streams © Laurie Campbell in areas where the snow lies very late. grows only on dead Scottish Beard-moss Bryoerythrophyllum caledonicum, Background image Dichodontium flavescens ©All Gordon Rothero wood in woodlands in Fountain Apple-moss Philonotis fontana ©David Genney the East Highlands.