Sometimes the most fascinating wildlife you can see in Oxfordshire isn’t big or bold but tiny and overlooked. PETER CREED, expert volunteer for the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust, tells us about moss — a plant with a low profile

A world in miniature

As winter approaches I like to get out and explore the miniature world of mosses - verdant and beautiful plants that really come into their own during the wetter and colder months. At first glance, any woodland at this time of year might look unpromising for plants, but get down on your hands and knees, or up close to a moss-covered bough, and have a good look at what is growing there.

Though small (some of them really small), mosses can carpet areas of woodland. Some succulent looking, others spiky and architectural, mosses come in many shades of green, and a surprising range of other colours too — rich ruby red, pink and gold. Many mosses form spore-producing capsules on colourful stems and have names that are as intriguing as their shapes, such as drumsticks, extinguisher-moss, pincushion and swan-neck thyme-moss.

Waterland

We may head indoors on a grizzly day, but these are exactly the type of conditions that mosses thrive upon. They are transformed into miniature kingdoms from tightly scrunched up forms into lavish flower-like tufts.

Water is of fundamental importance to mosses and they are specially adapted to hold on to as much water as possible and also to survive for long periods of time without water. Mosses have adapted so that they can trap water between leaf folds, overlapping leaves, and minute hairs.

A good example is frizzled pincushion that forms neat green cushions on branches and trunks of trees, usually willows, often near water. Its leaves, when dry, curl up like frizzy hair, but with just a few drops of water they will soon straighten out and look more succulent. Ash and elder trees are also good for a range of mosses, from rambling tail-moss and blunt feather-moss to bristle-mosses. You may make some exciting discoveries too.

Cleaner air

Last year when I found smooth bristle-moss at Iffley Meadows nature reserve near the centre of Oxford, and at three different Trust nature reserves I spotted marble screw-moss, a lovely little plant with pointed leaves covered in green gemmae (bud-like structures that can form new plants resembling marbles). These mosses are highly sensitive to pollution and declined as levels of sulphur dioxide rose and peaked in the 1960s and 1970s. However, since the Clean Air Act, these rare species are returning to our area.

Woodland and trees are not the only places where mosses will grow. They are found in nearly all habitats, both wet and dry. Some of our larger, more showy mosses grow in fens and marshy areas. Marsh bryum, a beautifully architectural moss whose triangular green leaves contrast with bright-red stems, can carpet marshy ground.

Many other mosses grow on dry-stone walls and in old quarries. If you head out to the Trust’s Ardley Quarry nature reserve, north of Bicester or Hitchcopse Pit near Abingdon you might be lucky enough to spot aloe-moss and extinguisher-moss growing on the quarry cliffs.

Find out more

The best way to find out more about moss is to come along to a Small is Beautiful guided walk organised by your local Wildlife Trust. The moss spotting season kicks off on Sunday, November 20,10.30am at Sydlings Copse nature reserve, just north of Oxford. To become a member of the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust, join seasonal wildlife events or become a volunteer please visit www.bbowt.org.uk or tel 01865 775476.