A spongey mass takes a new form: the surprisingly pretty world of moss

But as evocative names such as slender mouse-tail, springy turf-moss and Bruch’s pincushion suggest, there may be much more to patches of green spongy moss than tends to meet the naked eye.

A new effort is underway to encourage us all to pay a little more attention to the often overlooked, miniscule but immensely diverse world of moss.

At Benmore Botanic Garden near Dunoon in Argyll, in the heart of Scotland’s rainforest and an area notorious for its wet climate, moss carpets the ground, creeps up trees and clings to rocks creating an ‘otherworldly’ lush, green vision.

Bruch’s pincushion (Ulota bruchii), part of Benmore Botanic Garden’s new moss trail (Image: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh)

Regarded as a ‘moss hotspot’, the garden has more than 800 types of bryophtyes – the name given to the group of plants that include mosses, liverworts and hornworts – which make up around 4% of all known species.

While according to the Garden’s curator, Peter Baxter, Scotland boasts around 8% of the world’s byrophytes, with around 1,000 types: a significant proportion for a country of its size.

Around for 400 million years, they make up planet’s oldest group of land plants and play an essential role in ecosystems. Yet their tiny features – which come to life when magnified - are often overlooked in favour of brightly coloured blooms, towering trees and other plants.

To alter our perceptions, visitors to the Garden are being encouraged to get closer to moss and see it in all its amplified glory by following a specially curated trail and using a hand lens to view it.

And although that can involve scrambling into soggy corners and crouching on hands and knees there is the reward of seeing a new world of tiny fleshy leaves, spiky stems, mesmerising patterns of stars, delicate buds and, within carpets of emerald green, unexpected bursts of vibrant reds, yellows and browns.

The free self-guided trail takes visitors to ten locations, building a picture of how mosses and other bryophytes spread, colonise new habitats and adapt to changing conditions.

As well as opening eyes to the beauty of bryophytes, it’s hoped the experience will spark fresh appreciation for the work they do in helping provide habitats for invertebrates such as woodlice and slugs, and for microscopic rotifers, nematodes and tardigrades.

Common tamarisk-moss (Thuidium tamariscinum) which is included in the Garden's new moss trail (Image: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh)

“Mosses are often overlooked,” says Peter, who oversees the 120-acre mountainside garden with its collection of plants from regions ranging from the Himalaya, China and Japan to North and South America.

“People see a spongy, green mass on a branch or rock and look no further.

“Our new trail is putting the focus on mosses and other bryophytes. With a hand lens, visitors get the chance to get up close to the plant and see the structure magnified.

“A spongy, green mass suddenly takes on a whole new form.”

Among Garden’s mosses is the aptly-named springy turf-moss (Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus), which many might recognise: it favours damp turf including lawns and tends to be found in woodlands close to streams and marshes.

From high above, it looks like little more than a soft patch of green, but under the lens it reveals its red stems with millions of starry shoots which link to its other common name, electrified cat’s tail moss.

Little shaggy-moss (Rhytidiadelphus loreus) (Image: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh)

Slender mouse-tail moss (Isothecium myosuroides) or tree moss, meanwhile, often clings to trees and rocks, its delicate stems topped by bushy branches so it sometimes can be mistaken for a young tree.

The names can be particularly evocative: Scott’s fork-moss (Dicranum scottianum), another Benmore moss, appears at first to be a fluffy ball of soft green fluff but close up reveals tiny spear like shoots.

And yellowish-green Bruch’s pincushion (Ulota bruchii) emerges from twigs and branches. Just as the name suggests, from a soft green puff emerge countless spikey ‘needles’.

Others that can be seen on the trail include Common tamarisk-moss (Thuidium tamariscinum) which boast bright yellow-green fern-like shoots, Little shaggy-moss (Rhytidiadelphus loreus) which spreads across the woodland floor and creates a lush carpet of emerald and Aloe haircap (Pogonatum aloides) found peeking through fallen branches with delicate cup-like white caps.

Peter says the new trail is helping raise awareness about the importance of mosses and other bryophytes to biodiversity and the role they can play in the fight against climate change.

“If moss were to disappear overnight, you would also lose an important habitat that insects live, small rodents and birds use moss to furnish nests, and there’s a host of biodiversity that lives and cohabits with moss.

“It’s a primitive plant that has been around for millions of years, and we are still learning about it today.”

Benmore’s mountainside location, amidst Scotland’s Atlantic rainforest, provides ideal conditions for mosses (Image: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh)

Moss is a key feature of the Benmore garden’s 120 acres, emerging beneath towering trees, creeping under bushes, coating rocks and in thick woodlands creating fairytale-like hollows.

“All this moss might not be what people think they’re going to see at a botanical garden,” adds Peter. “They might see all the big trees and the rhododendrons, but the mosses shouldn’t be overlooked.

“Instead of looking at the big blousy large flowers, we want them to explore a different world.

“Some grow on tree trunks and rocky faces, and you have to get really close to them to start to understand what you’re seeing.”

Moss, which can be found everywhere from the Arctic to the driest deserts, plays a significant role in supporting life on Earth: bog mosses can help in the fight against climate change by sequestering carbon.

Mosses and liverworts cover a branch in Benmore Botanic Garden, part of Scotland’s Atlantic rainforest (Image: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh)

One in particular, sphagnum moss, played a crucial role during the First World War, when the RBGE’s then Regius Keeper Isaac Bayley Balfour rallied home armies of moss collectors, recognising its sponge like ability to absorb moisture meant it would be ideal for use dressing wounds in military hospitals.

These days the Benmore’s location within the British Atlantic rainforest zone and its collection of bryophytes play a major part in research and conservation work into Scotland’s plant diversity being undertaken by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

One recent project led to the rediscovery of a rare moss, Hedwigia striata, thought lost to southern Scotland since 1896.

Aloe haircap (Pogonatum aloides) (Image: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh)

It was found clinging to rocks in Dumfries & Galloway during a project carried out by scientists from RBGE, Spain and Portugal looking into the impact of climate change on bryophytes.

And although many gardeners here rue the sight of a mossy patch, some others recognise its beauty and potential: in Japan, for example, mosses feature heavily in landscaped gardens and are often cultivated and sold to gardeners.

“We’re a bit behind the curve when it comes to appreciating moss,” adds Peter.

“We’re hoping this will help people learn to love it a bit more.”