I counted 47 different types of moss on a single rotting log last Tuesday

Figured I'd find maybe 10 or 12, but by the time I got to 40 I started wondering if I was just counting the same ones twice, has anyone else walked into the woods thinking they knew what they were looking at and ended up totally lost in the details?

2 comments

2 Comments

mason2091mo agoTop Commenter

Is abby's suggestion about the hand lens something you already tried or are you still just using your phone camera to zoom in? I found that once I got a 10x loupe I started noticing how different the leaf shapes were on each type, some looked like little stars and others were more like tiny spears. The notebook tip is crucial too because I started sketching quick outlines when I found a new one, and that helped me realize I had 3 different kinds of moss on the same 6 inch patch of bark. If you keep at it you'll probably notice patterns like certain mosses only grow on the damp underneath side while others like the top where it gets more sun.

abby8361mo ago

Get yourself a pocket loupe or a decent hand lens before you go out again. That made all the difference for me when I got into fern identification, because I could actually see the spore patterns without having to guess. Also take a small notebook and write down the time of day and which side of the log each moss was growing on, because that will help you figure out if you're doubling back on yourself. You might want to look up a basic moss key online and print it out, the one from the British Bryological Society is pretty straightforward even for beginners.