Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism, physical and emotional abuse, and sexual violence.

Splachnum mosses are very particular in their choice of habitat. They are a bog moss, but they only occur on animal droppings, and each Splachnum species has just one type of animal droppings it can colonize: deer, coyote, or moose, for example. This makes them very rare—so rare that Kimmerer has never succeeded in deliberately finding them, but has only discovered them incidentally, when looking for something else. Kimmerer marvels at the series of events that must occur in order for a Splachnum colony to exist. She gives the example of Splachnum ampullulaceum, which can exist only on white-tailed deer droppings. A deer must follow the scent of some foodstuff—cranberries, for instance—into the bog. While there, it must defecate. Its droppings must draw flies. Those flies must be carrying Splachnum ampullulaceum spores and deposit them when they land to feed.

Even once established, the moss is in a race against time: its sole habitat is a quickly decaying one. Unlike mosses that invest their energy in growing larger and delay reproduction until well-established, Splachnum ampullulaceum must invest its energy in growing reproductive structures quickly.