MOSS

 Mosses are great for tiny mini-beasts, which are in turn food for birds and small mammals.  They are the first colonisers of damp ground and soak up water thirstily.  

Take a close look, even with a hand lens, to see the huge variety in the nearly 700 different moss species in the British Isles.  It's a mini-forest out there.

Many of them only have Latin names but recently people have been trying to make them more appealing by giving them English names.  Unfortunately bryologists (moss nuts) don't always agree about the English names and sometimes even change the Latin names.

Just look at them and enjoy.  

Here are two common mosses, easy to find at this time of year.  

  Rough-stalked feather moss  (Brachythecium rutabulum) is common in woods and lawns, on logs and on stones.  The Wildlife Trust website calls it 'Ordinary Moss' and in North America it is 'Rough-stalked Ragged Moss'. 

The leaves are glossy and slightly branched with a fine point.  It likes damp conditions.

See how it shines!

Then there is this one: Common Feather Moss.  It's very ferny.  Also likes the damp.  What am I saying: they all like the damp.

It was called    Eurhynchium praelongum  but has changed to Kindbergia praelonga   although some bryologists still call it by its old name.  In North America it is Slender Beaked Moss.

Only 690+ to go.

No, don't panic.  Most are uncommon and you can be an impressive amateur bryologist if you can identify 40 or so of the most common mosses.