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Like a botanical Clark Kent, these unassuming plants are hiding superhero qualities. Not only does moss have the ability to absorb liquids up to 20 times their weight, but they also act as insulation for soil and tree roots – either keeping it cool or warming it up. They help to colonize areas affected by deforestation and wildfires, and in extreme temperatures, they can go dormant in order to survive. 

Mosses date back 450 million years, with up to 25,000 known species. They are found on every continent, even the frigid wastes of Antarctica! They are non-flowering plants, and instead of roots, they have rhizoids, which are like tiny hairs that fix the moss to surfaces such as soil, tree bark, or rock.

On the BC coast, Bigleaf Maples – like the ones found in Mossome Grove and Mossy Maple Grove – can harbour enormous amounts of moss on their branches due to their calcium-rich bark, which is one of five minerals needed for moss to grow. This relationship is symbiotic, as the maples deploy aerial roots to access nutrients in the soils that develop under these moss mats.

Another important function of moss is as a Marbled Murrelet’s nest. Marbled Murrelets are a species of seabird found in coastal BC. They don’t build conventional nests, rather, they find a wide branch with thick moss high in an old-growth forest to lay their egg. Because only giant old-growth trees have branches large enough to support the huge cushions of moss that murrelets require for nesting, murrelets are dependent on the vanishing old-growth forests for their survival.

Next time you’re walking in an old-growth forest, remember that you’re walking among superheroes.