16 February 2025. A photo essay and appreciation for mosses during Moss Week by Hannah Harder.
Bunches of moss on Washington Island, WI. Possibly Dicranoweisia sp.
It is, I just learned, Moss Appreciation Week. I do, especially since moving to Wisconsin, have an affinity for mosses. Although the most tremendous mosses I have ever seen are probably in the old growth temperate rainforests of the Pacific northwest including Olympic National Park. Old growth forests have the infrastructure to support more species and diversity of mosses than other types of forests. It is, therefore, imperative that we hold the line on advocating for old growth protection at all costs. Especially as mis-informed and deceptively named laws, like the H.R. 471 “Fix Our Forests Act” just passed in January, encroaching on minimal remaining old growth lands.
Moss textures are an artist’s delight. If you have ever made a terrarium you also know that they are the essential component to keep your habitat in check, regulating moisture and humidity and providing ongoing growth. On a planetary scale they mediate between our planet’s ancient past and its pending future.
Mosses are also some of the oldest land photosynthetic organisms following algae and are over 400 million years old. They are part of the division of non-vascular earliest plants called Bryophytes. They reproduce by spores not seeds.
Check out the link below to read the full essay: