Now is the time to go into the sun-flecked woods, as we did yesterday, and admire the vibrant mosses that are softening the edges of brooks and gently covering the bodies of fallen trees. While you’re at it, you might ponder a modern misconception about the ancient division of plants known as mosses (Bryophta).
That misconception is the current interpretation of the common proverb “Rolling stones gather no moss.” There is nothing bad about moss or the gathering thereof. Somewhere over the centuries, the original proverb was turned on its head by those who couldn’t read Latin.
That origin reportedly was this (translated) criticism by Publilius Syrus: “People who are always moving, with no roots in one place or another, avoid responsibilities and cares.” (Mosses don’t have true roots.) The old saying “a day in the moss” meant hard, necessary work, such as harvesting peat moss and its remains (peat) before winter. The mosses shown here, by the way, appear to us to be peat (Spagnum) mosses, our most common variety. (Brooklin, Maine) See also the image in the first Comment space.