When you conjure up images of European medieval woodland landscapes, as depicted in fairy tales and hero's adventures, the scenery is often an iconic archetype. The mosaic of images probably contains languidly moving brooks flanked by dense arboreal vistas and most certainly there is a vibrant lush green carpet stretching in all directions on the forest floor. This expansive and luxuriant green blanket is composed of an interwoven series of a singular and amazing plant; moss.
Moss comes in a host of varieties including color, texture, geometry and so forth. The moss of fairy tale panoramas is more than likely the long-fibered sphagnum moss better known as peat moss. Peat moss is not restricted to Europe it also has its North American and Asian counterparts. Moss has a lively and lavish history in the social, medical, spiritual, horticultural and even economic realms of peoples lives all over the world.
This article appears in Aug 2-8, 2012.