Moss appeal of plant that could save world
MOSS is small, green, grows in your lawn and on shady walls - right?
Well yes, all of the above is correct, but moss can also be so much more.
Did you know that moss comes in a whole array of colours and can even fight climate change!
Sphagnum moss is a particularly special type of moss that is only found on peatlands.
Head out to the mosslands of Greater Manchester around Salford and Wigan and, especially at this time of year, you could be greeted with a rainbow of soggy, mossy, loveliness.
Sphagnum pulchrum glows a gorgeous ochre gold colour, sphagnum rubellum is a deep wine red, sphagnum subnitens pops with a bright ruby hue, sphagnum fallax shines a bright lime green, whilst sphagnum cuspidatum lurking away in peaty bog pools is a deep British racing green.
But not only is it beautiful, it could also help to save the world.
Sphagnum moss is the building block of peatlands, a wonderful habitat that make up our largest terrestrial carbon store - more than twice that of rainforests.
As the sphagnum grows in the wet and acidic conditions that peatlands provide, it absorbs carbon through photosynthesis.
Now all plants photosynthesise and absorb carbon, but where sphagnum moss is really special is that as the top of the plant grows, the bottom layers of vegetation start to decompose and form peat.
But they only ever get as far as ‘starting’ to decompose, because of those wet and acidic conditions that we talked about.
These conditions mean that there is no oxygen, and it’s far too acidic for most microbes to get to work.
This means that those bottom layers of sphagnum only ever partially decompose and all of the carbon that they absorbed whilst growing stays locked within the peat they form.
Forever.
So basically, peatlands and all of the wonderful multi-coloured sphagnum moss that forms them, are essentially a giant carbon sponge, literally sucking carbon out of the atmosphere and storing it safely away, merrily fighting climate change whilst they are doing it.
Oh, and did I mention the wildlife?
Peatlands are home to some seriously amazing plants and animals.
In amongst the rainbow of sphagnum you will find cotton grasses.
In autumn the green stalks of common cotton grass are streaked with scarlet, whereas in early summer their seed heads explode into bright white balls of baby soft fluff.
It’s an incredibly
beautiful sight.
Peatlands are also home to loads of animals; frogs, toads, lizards, newts and a plethora of invertebrates.
The Manchester argus butterfly is a dinky little thing with orange splodges on its malty brown coloured wings.
And have you ever seen so many dragonflies that you could hear them too?
Well, if you can get anywhere near a peatland bog pool on a sunny day (without falling in!) there may well be so many dragonflies flitting around that you can actually hear the thrumming of their wings.
It’s a life affirming experience I can tell you.
So yes, moss is green. But it’s also a bit more than that.