Tuesday 3 April 2012

Moss

One of things that Blogging teaches you is that when you look at something closely there is usually more to see than you would initially think. Here's an illustration of that thought.

Look at these. Pendulous bright green flower buds borne on tall slender stems. Lots of interest here.


Now look at them from a distance. This is the view you get when standing upright:


Yes, it's a little patch of moss growing on the weed-suppressing fabric on which the shingle in my garden is laid. The white bits are pieces of sawdust from when the Maple tree was trimmed just recently.


Those flower-stems are only a centimetre tall, and you have to get down on your hands and knees to appreciate them!


Here's a picture of the same patch of moss, taken in January, when the last batch of seed-heads was mature.


Looked at in this scale, you have a whole garden in one flower-pot!

18 comments:

  1. wow! stunning. who knew moss could be so beautiful!

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  2. The beauty of moss had rendered me speechless.

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  3. Moss reproduce in a really, really complicated way and what you have photographed (really well) are sporophyte stalks holding up sort of capsules that release spores from which new moss grows. Not a very scientific description maybe someone else understands what happens better than I do? Moss don't actually form flowers! You didn't really want to know that did you?

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  4. Beautiful! I am weak on these ancient plants, moss and ferns as well. Sue has said corectly what it is on your beautiful photos.

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  5. Great shots Mark amazing what you can do with macro.

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  6. wowzers Mark, that is incredible!... how do you deal with moss on your lawn? The Viking has real problems with his...

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  7. Dom; I don't have any lawn, so no moss problems there. The inability to keep the grass moss-free was one of the reasons why I eliminated the lawn some years ago.

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  8. Now I could almost start to like moss when viewed up close like that...but then I would have to stand up and see how I usually see it and that warm fuzzy feeling would soon go away!!

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  9. Sue; thanks for putting me right. My knowledge of the reproductive habits of moss is strictly limited!

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  10. I LOVE moss!! Wish my whole yard (5 plus acres) was moss. No more mowing twice a week in summer!! Your photos are superb!

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  11. I always love close ups of moos. So pretty.

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  12. Boy you sure are right! If you look at stuff really close you can see the beauty that God has created it as! Kinda like getting to know someone!

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  13. I love moss and love to take close up like the ones you showed...although I am not as skillful as you in taking pictures.

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  14. It's amazing what can be seen when you get up close.

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  15. That really was nice Mark. I had no idea moss could look that lovely.

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  16. You sort of got me... I was thinking, "WOW I can't wait to scroll down and find out what kind of flower has buds that look just like giant moss spores!" Haha!

    These are truly fantastic photos -- love that you also have the mature seed heads. GREAT pictures!

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  17. Mosses and Lichens have fascinated me for a long time.

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