December 2, 2016
What are Mosses?
Mosses are non-vascular plants. They have leafy green shoots that lack both a complex vascular system and roots. They are small and live where there is enough moisture: their rhizoids are simply holdfasts. A moss, if it reproduces sexually, produces spores in stalked capsules. Along with Liverworts, they belong to a group of plants called Bryophytes.
Mosses of BC
The BC Conservation Data Centre currently lists 810 moss species and varieties in British Columbia. To see the Squamish area moss species that have been collected and deposited in the Herbaria of the Pacific North West search by location: search for the taxonomic group Bryophytes – Mosses and draw a polygon around the area on the map that you would like to search. On E-Flora, see photographs and descriptions.
See also Plants of Coastal British Columbia by Pojar & MacKinnon.
Some Common Mosses of British Columbia by W. B. Schofield is an excellent reference! Based at UBC, Schofield was very knowledgeable about the bryophytes of the Sea to Sky Corridor. He noted that, “Amateurs can make valuable contributions to an understanding of the flora by assembling well-documented and processed specimens for a particular region.”
Identifying Mosses
If you would like to figure out the name of a moss that interests you, it is usually necessary to collect a small specimen (with sporophytes if possible) and record some of the following information while you are in the field right beside your moss. Moss species have habitat niches and this information provides clues for identification. Copy the data onto a label and attach the label to the package containing your dried specimen.
- Collector’s name
- Date collected
- Habitat – The substratum (eg on rock face, ground, rotten log, tree base, epiphytic on tree), exposure (eg shade, light shade, open), moisture (eg moist, wet, submerged), nature of surrounding vegetation (eg floodplain forest, coniferous forest).
- Locality collected (eg. Squamish, BC., floodplain forest adjacent to Crescent Slough) & if possible take UTM’s (GPS), or latitude/longtitude & elevation (Google Earth on your computer), or photograph your moss with your phone using the free iNaturalist app which automatically records location.
When the specimen is identified, you can record the scientific name on the label.
Even professional bryologists usually take time to carefully look at the details under magnification using a hand lens or a microscope. For the most part, accurate identifications do take a great of attention to detail, patience, time and experience. Even the same species can look different depending on its stage of growth, if male or female, and on the conditions in which you find it.
Submitted by Judith Holm
Banner photo: Yellow curl-moss (Homalothecium fulgescens), identified with the help of UBC Herbarium staff. The moss is shiny, golden-green, fuzzy, and coarse. It forms spreading mats on trunks and branches of alder, cottonwood, and maple. By Gwen L’Hirondelle. Gallery photos by Gwen L’Hirondelle, Judith Holm, and Carl Halvorson.