a verdant pillow
lay your weary head down
nature always listens
I’ve quickly become obsessed with moss. This came quite naturally after reading Robin Wall Kimmerer’s “Gathering Moss” – truly outstanding natural history writing. If you haven’t read it, I encourage you to do so! It will draw you into the world of bryophytes, and you will discover astounding beauty. It will cause you to pause when you see a carpet of green on the side of a tree-trunk, or hugging a half-visible rock in your local woods. or covering the ground in the deep, dark forests.
Mosses (and their relatives) are well worth your time. They are secretive, special, green, and water-loving. They don’t have flowers or seeds or roots, but still do so much and have important ecological roles in ecosystems, but also create wonderful, soft mats upon which to rest your weary head.
Over the long weekend that just passed I walked my dog through many forest patches in town, carefully collecting small samples of moss and trying to identify them (this book is a good one to get you started!), and learn about them. My dog finds it weird, of course.
Many years ago I realized that the Butterfly Bush had the scientific name Buddleja davidii – which piqued my curiosity. I started to learn about the Good Reverend Adam Buddle (1662-1715) and his botanical interests, which lead the naming of the genus Buddleja. I went down more than a few rabbit holes understanding what he did, and interestingly, his interests were very much moss-related. This article talks about him being a ‘Moss-cropper extraordinaire‘. My family has roots in the United Kingdom, and at some point I would like to see if there is a blood-line connection to Adam Buddle. That would be fun, but regardless, I find looking at mosses helps me see nature a little differently and lets me dream and imagine the world of Reverend Buddle as he collected and worked to catalogue bryophytes in his backyard so many centuries ago.
Nature.
History.
Natural History.
Mossing about is well worth your time.
© Christopher M Buddle 2024
Nature's Reverie 
There is something truly captivating about mosses that makes it hard to walk past a verdant green stone. We enjoy hiking to waterfalls just to poke around the mosses and other hydrophilic plants.
I highly recommend “Mosses of the Northern Forest – A Photographic Guide” by Jerry Jenkins. It’s an immersive look at local mosses that’s both a great guide and a beautiful coffee table book.
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Thanks Vinko!! I’ll check out that book.
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