Moss Musings: Moss in Name Only

While moss has a specific botanical definition, members of the class Musci, the word in the English language has been used to describe almost any plant with finely divided leaves. We all know that Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) is not a moss at all, but an epiphytic angiosperm related to pineapple.

We also have moss phlox (Phlox subulata), pyxie moss (Pyxidanthera barulata), moss campion (Silene acaulis), mossy stonecrop (Sedum acre), rock moss (Sedum pulchelium), Irish moss (Sagina subulata), moss rose (Portulaca sp.), and mossy-cup oak (Quercus macrocarpa). Sea moss is actually red algae. There are even moss animals. These are tiny aquatic or marine colonial animals belonging to the small phylum Ectoprocta (or Bryozoa). Quite a list of mosses in name only!

There are several lichens that in the past have been commonly called mosses. We all know that reindeer moss is the lichen Cladonia rangiferina. But we also have treemoss (Pseudevernia furfuracea) and oakmoss (Evernia species), lichens that have been gathered in Europe for use in the perfume industry. There is also Iceland moss (Cetraria ericetorum), a lichen which was used in early herbalist medicine.

A few inanimate things also have the moss moniker. Moss agate is a quartz mineral with a dendritic pattern. Mossy Oak is a pattern of camo that is popular with hunters. And if you watch Gold Rush on the Discovery Channel, you know that miners’ moss is a fibrous material placed in the bottom of a sluice box to retain those very fine particles of gold.

Moss has also found its way into the English language idiom “a rolling stone gathers no moss,” although this is certainly not true for our own rolling stone Barb Andreas who has gathered lots of mosses! On the other hand, the term “old mossback” describes a slow moving person who has gathered the proverbial moss. It could be applied to this author even though I much prefer gathering lichens!

-Ray Showman