Lesson CLXXVIII

The Hair-Cap Moss

Leading thought—The mosses, like the butterfly and the fern, have several stages in their development. The butterfly stages are the egg, the caterpillar, the chrysalis, the butterfly. The moss stages are the egg (or ovule), the spores, the branching green threads, the moss plants with their green foliage. In June we can easily find all these stages, except perhaps the branching thread stage.

Method—The children should bring to the schoolroom a basin of moss in its fruiting stage; or still better, go with them to a knoll covered with moss. Incidentally tell them that this moss, when dried, is used by the Laplanders for stuffing their pillows, and that the bears use it for their beds. Once, a long time ago, people believed that a plant, by the shape of its leaf or flower, indicated its nature as a medicine, and as this moss looked like hair, the water in which it was steeped was used as a hair tonic.

Observation—1. Take a moss stem with a grain of pigeon wheat at the end. Examine the lower part of the stalk. How are the leaves arranged on it? Examine one of the little leaves through a lens and describe its shape, its edges, and the way it joins the stem. Are the lower leaves the same color as the upper ones? Why?

2. Describe the pretty shining stem of the fruit, which is called the pedicel. Is it the same color for its entire length? Can you pull it easily from the main plant? Describe how its base is embedded in the tip of the plant.

3. Note the silken cap on a grain of the pigeon wheat. This is called the veil. Is it all the same color? Is it grown fast to the plant at its lower margin? Take it by the tip, and pull it off. Is this done easily? Describe what it covers. This elegant little green vase is called a spore-capsule. How many sides has it? Describe its base which stands upon the stem. Describe the little lid. Pull off the lid; is there another lid below it? Can you see the tiny teeth around the edge which hold this lid in place? Ask your teacher, or read in the books, the purpose of this.

4. Do all the spore vases stand straight up, or do some bend over?

5. Do you think the silken cap falls off of itself after a while? Can you find any capsules where the cap or veil and the lid have fallen off? See if you can shake any dust out of such a spore vase. What do you think this dust is? Ask your teacher, or read in the books, about moss spores and what happens if they find a damp place in which to grow.

6. Hunt among the moss for some stems that have pretty, yellowish, starlike cups at their tips. How does the inside of one of these cups look? Ask the teacher to tell you what grows in this cup. Look down the stem and see if you can find last year’s cup. The cup of two years ago? Measured by these cups how old do you think this moss stem is?

7. Select some stems of moss, both those that bear the fruit and those that bear the cups. After they are dried describe how the leaves look. Examine the plant with a lens and note how these leaves are folded and twisted. Do the leaves stand out from the stem or lie close to it? Is this action of the leaves of any use to the plant in keeping the water from evaporating? How do the star-cups look when dry?

8. Place these dried stems in a glass of water and describe what happens to the cup. Examine some of the dried moss and the wet moss with a lens, and describe the difference. Of what use to the moss is this power of changing form when damp?

Reference—First Lessons in Plant Life, Atkinson.