Sphagnum moss is well known to flower lovers and not only. It is also used in medicine, animal husbandry, and construction. Other names for sphagnum are white moss, peat moss, sphagnum. This plant is involved in maintaining the balance of the forest ecosystem. It is from it that peat reserves are formed. Moss occupies a specific place in the food chain.

Where does sphagnum grow and what does it look like

White moss lives in swampy forest areas. It can be found in different parts of the world, but it is more common in the northern territories. Translated from Greek, sphagnum sounds like "natural sponge". This name is not accidental, it is due to the hygroscopic properties of the plant. Compared to other mosses, sphagnum has a much lighter color.

This moss has no roots. Dying off, over time, sphagnum is transformed into peat. Decay processes do not affect it because of the antibacterial properties inherent in this plant. Some do not know why sphagnum is called white moss, but the whole point is that when it dries, the plant turns white. During the growth of the moss, the formation of low erect shoots occurs, which form a dense pillow not exceeding 5 cm. The plant in the description is represented by several varieties. For example, protruding sphagnum forms taller and looser clumps.

Sphagnum does not have a single stem, but consists of phyllidia and caulidia, which absorb mineral salts and water, thus getting nourishment. The role of rhizoids is played by young sections of the stem and leaves. Over time, their suction function is lost, and they only help the marsh moss to stay in the substrate. Spores mature in special pods that form at the ends of the upper branches.

If we consider the diagram of the structure of sphagnum under a microscope, its leaves consist of 2 types of cells. Green and lively contain chloroplasts, which are involved in photosynthesis. Dead cells are large and colorless formations. Their role is to retain large amounts of moisture. The shoots of the plant have an openwork pattern and give an airy appearance sphagnum. During the rainy season, moss absorbs water and then gradually releases it into environment, thus maintaining the water balance of the ecosystem.

Reproduction of the "natural sponge"

Scientists have long established how sphagnum reproduces. Reproduction takes place with the help of spores and vegetatively. The rate of reproduction of sphagnum marsh largely depends on the composition of the soil. The "sponge" spreads most quickly on wet grassy areas with low soil acidity, near trees, near swamps. The most productive way is reproduction by spores:

The mechanism of vegetative propagation is only effective over short distances. In this case, the reproduction of the moss by sections of the stem occurs.

Areas of use

"Natural sponge" is widely used in various economic fields. Sphagnum is collected in some places on an industrial scale. However, it is often harvested for personal needs. It is interesting to know where sphagnum moss can come in handy, what it is used for:

To collect raw materials on your own, you can go to the nearest forest with swampy areas, where it will not be difficult to find white moss. The process of collecting and subsequent storage of the "natural sponge" is also not particularly difficult.

How to collect and store

Soft forest moss does not require any special devices during the collection process. It is collected with bare hands or wearing gloves. An adult can easily pull the moss out of the ground. After harvesting, sphagnum must be squeezed out to remove excess moisture, and spread out in the sun to dry. If you plan to use the plant for decorative purposes, it is not squeezed out and dried for a shorter time.

When collecting, it is better not to pull out the plant completely, but to cut off the top of the pillow with scissors. Then the remnants of moss in the soil will continue to grow, releasing new branches, and it will gradually recover. If the plant is to be used as a substrate, it must be doused with boiling water to destroy the insects that inhabit it.

It is better not to dry sphagnum in special household dryers, as in this case it will dry unevenly. The collected raw materials can be stored in the freezer.

Today we will talk about unusual plant, which is often used to grow orchids.

Sphagnum moss will save your pets from various diseases and many other problems in caring. This unusual inhabitant of the swamp world has unique properties and scope, which will be the topic of today's article.

Moss got its name from the Greeks, in translation sphagnum means "sponge". It fully justifies its name: its hygroscopicity in dry form (the ability to absorb water 20 times its own weight) is 25 times greater than cotton wool.

In nature, it is easy to confuse it with "cuckoo flax", which is very similar to it and differs only in its bright green color. Sphagnum has a pleasant light green color, and when it dries, it becomes almost white. That is why the people called it white moss.

It has no roots. The lower part dies off over time and turns into peat without decaying. Decay is prevented by substances that have bactericidal properties.

Due to these properties, moss is used not only in gardening, but also in medicine (in particular, in the production of medical alcohol).

How to prepare sphagnum moss

It grows almost everywhere, but the safest way to look for it is in a swampy area. If you decide to stock up on this plant for future use, then follow these rules:

• When harvesting sphagnum, do not pull it out together with the bottom. You will destroy a lush, beautiful pillow.
• It will be correct to cut off the upper part of the plant with scissors, which will be useful to you.Then the remaining roots will give young shoots.
• At home it is necessary to pour over hot water harvested moss to kill insect larvae and eggs. At the same time, sphagnum does not lose its properties.
• You can dry it outdoors - in the sun and breeze.
• Artificial drying in dryers is not recommended, since the plant does not dry evenly there.
• If the workpiece was for medical purposes, then the moss can be dried until completely dry, after which it can be broken and placed in dry containers.
• For decorative purposes and floriculture, it is not recommended to dry it to full condition. Store wrapped in newspaper. Another storage method is freezer... They put it there in green and take it out as needed.

I suggest you watch the moss harvesting in the video.

If you live in a big city or there are no swamps in your area and you cannot make a harvest yourself, you can buy a dried or green plant in a specialized flower shop or on the Internet (very often it is sold on orchid forums).

Useful properties of moss

Sphagnum moss has three useful properties: high hygroscopicity, high bactericidal properties and air permeability. These properties are used in various fields.

Medical use

This plant was used in medicine as early as the 11th century. At the end of the 19th century, sphagnum was sent to the Russian provinces as a dressing material. The package with such amazing material was accompanied by a questionnaire for paramedics and doctors with a survey about its properties. As a result, doctors highly appreciated the bactericidal and hygroscopic properties of the novelty.

V modern medicine this dressing material was undeservedly forgotten, but during the war it was the first remedy that, with its high hygroscopicity, easily absorbed blood, pus and other liquids.

Now some pharmaceutical companies are resuming the production of sphagnum-gauze tampons, which are additionally impregnated with a boric acid solution.

Disinfecting, antibacterial and antifungal properties in moss are determined by the phenol-like substance sphagnol and sphagnum or humic acids, which exhibit antibiotic properties.

• Bactericidal properties are used for cuts, frostbite and burns.
• Not everyone knows that when a splint is applied to a fracture, it cannot be applied directly to the body. Use sphagnum moss. The properties will help disinfect the wound and soften friction and possible shock during transportation of the patient.
• Use sphagnum insoles to combat foot fungus. They will also help get rid of bad smell legs and their increased sweating.
• For psoriasis on the body and other infectious skin lesions, it is recommended to take baths with moss. To do this, cut a small amount of it, pour it hot (70-80 ° C), insist and add the resulting infusion to the bathroom.
• The peat water that you squeeze out after collecting the moss will help in the fight against staphylococcal lesions (you need to constantly wash the wound).
• It is recommended to use it for stuffing children's mattresses, diapers. It is also advised as an excellent tool as a pad for children, seriously ill and elderly people. They absorb moisture and odors well.

Construction

In construction, sphagnum moss and its properties are also actively used as an environmentally friendly insulation. During the construction of log cabins, it is laid between the logs. Its bactericidal properties will not allow the logs to rot. And during the construction of baths, it will also regulate humidity drops.

Gardening

Due to the bactericidal properties of sphagnum, it is used by flower growers to grow young plants or to save diseased specimens. Hygroscopicity allows moisture to be retained in the substrate. Also, sphagnum moss is used as a component for the compilation of various substrates (for Saintpaulias, Gloxinia), and it is especially widely used in.

Using moss to grow young orchid babies:

Scald the sphagnum with hot water, cool and squeeze. Ready liquid mineral fertilizer We spill Kemira Lux. If the fertilizer is in dry packaging, we use a 20-gram bag with a concentration of 0.5 g / l. After the spill, we squeeze it out again and keep it in a closed sealed bag for 4 days.

To grow roots 5-7 cm long, the orchid must be transplanted every 2 months into freshly prepared sphagnum. When the roots reach the desired size, we transplant the plant into a pine bark substrate.

In the country, this plant can be used as fertilizer or cover from frost. Peat cups for seedlings, known to all gardeners, are made of it.

Beekeeping and Livestock

Sphagnum moss is used for hygienic purposes in cages with pets: rats, hamsters, guinea pigs. This natural toilet filler is excellent at removing odors and absorbing moisture.

Beekeepers also use it as a natural insulation. Placed under the hive, it will remove excess moisture from the hive and disinfect the air, which will save the bee colony from unwanted diseases.

I think you discovered amazing properties white moss. Therefore, when you are in the forest and meet it on your way, be sure to prepare it at least a little for future use.

When flowering plants did not yet exist in nature, he already delighted the eye ... of dinosaurs.




The forest covered reminds us of primitive times. Its layer, just a few centimeters, creates the impression of a dense green carpet that covers everything around.

Moss superstar: classes and types

The first mosses appeared on our planet more than 400 million years ago, long before flowering plants. As well as, these plants reproduce by spores. There are about 18,000 species of mosses grouped into three classes.

Liver mosses

The oldest of them - liver mosses... The most famous representative of this group is hairy blepharostomy (Blepharostoma trichophyllum) with its characteristic flat, spreading shape. Most liverwort mosses have stems and true leaves.

Hair-leaved blepharostoma most often grows on soil, as well as on deadwood, stumps and stones along the banks of streams and rivers, forming dense or loose, mixed with other bryophytes, tufts and even whole carpets.

A large class is also made up of bryophytes... They are all divided into orders according to the structure of their stems, leaves and the way they are fixed in the soil. Mosses form “cushions” ranging in height from millimeters to several centimeters, and sometimes cover vast territories with a dense lawn of living plants and their dead parts with a layer up to 1-3 m or more thick.

Anthocerot mosses

The second no less extensive class is anthocerot mosses, outwardly resembling "liverworts". They got their name from the Greek words anthos - flower and keros - horn, since the form of plants is a dark green lamellar rosette (thallus) with a diameter of 1-3 cm, tightly attached to the soil, and numerous horn-like outgrowths (sporogons) up to 2 -3 cm.

It belongs to one of the most common species. In the forest, it can cover very large areas, but in habitable places, on the walls and roofs of houses, he will also find a place. The picture clearly shows long stems with spore pods.

Leaf moss cuckoo flax looks like a twig conifers... Its length can be up to 15 cm; it is the cuckoo flax that often lines the soil in the forest.

Wall tortula forms small cushions and grows on limestone stones, including on the walls of houses made of such material.

In some mosses, the spore pods sometimes look like flowers, as, for example, in this juniper-like polytrichum.

Cirrifillum hairy (Cirriphyllum piliferum) forms loose light green tussocks. He prefers calcareous soil, rich in nutrients... Cirrifillum can be found in forests and bushes. However, in the garden there is also a place for him.

Chylocomium brilliant ( Hylocomium splendens) most commonly found in forests, although grasslands, roadsides, and quarries often provide shelter. In the process of growth, it forms cascades, which seem to consist of separate floors.

Sphagnum hairy (Sphagnum capillifolium) grows primarily in swamps and wet forests. Plant height does not exceed 20 cm. This moss can be whitish-green, brown, reddish or yellow in color.

Sphagnum moss is a branched monoecious plant, a representative of white mosses.

Distributed in the taiga, in the tundra, in swampy areas.

Did you know?The largest amount of sphagnum grows in the temperate climatic zone of the northern hemisphere of the Earth, the greatest variety - in South America.

Sphagnum moss - what is it

Peat moss is a marsh plant from which peat is formed. Spore perennials grow every year in the upper part, dying off in the lower part. It is easy to give an answer to how sphagnum peat moss feeds. The plant absorbs water, photosynthesizes, forms organic matter from water and oxygen. On the stem and leaves there are water-storing cells surrounded by dark green photosynthetic cells, united into a single network. The sphagnum moss has a leg and a spore capsule. It is sphagnum that plays an important role in swamping forests and turning lakes into swamps. Where sphagnum moss grows (most often coniferous or broad-leaved forests), the humidity is increased.

Useful properties of moss for indoor plants

Sphagnum moss is widely used in horticulture and floriculture due to a wide range of valuable properties. Florists are interested in what substances sphagnum contains. Peat moss contains phenolic substances, triterpene compounds, sugars, salts, pectins. Moss prevents the appearance of pus in wounds, it is often used as a dressing that does not need to be sterilized before use.

Did you know? It has a huge suction capacity, surpasses even cotton wool in this.

Useful properties of moss- perfectly breathable, resists bacteria, has a disinfecting and antifungal effect.

How to properly use sphagnum moss in home floriculture

The use of sphagnum moss in gardening will help to avoid many soil problems. It is necessary to cut the moss and add it to the substrate, which will loosen the soil, increase its moisture capacity, and form the desired structure. It will also take away the accumulated water after watering, giving it to the roots. Sphagnum moss is a branched perennial. and you should understand what a plant is may overmoisten the soil.

Important! Sphagnum increases the acidity of the soil; in the mixture, its volume should not exceed 10%.

Sphagnum moss is very useful for indoor plants. By covering the pot with moss, you can maintain the correct moisture level around the crown, but do not keep it constantly on the surface of the soil so as not to provoke root death. For Saintpaulias, a mixture of 1 part of leafy soil, fertile garden soil, river sand and chopped sphagnum is suitable. Gloxinia will benefit from a mixture of "Vermion" earth, charcoal, 1 teaspoon dolomite flour and handfuls of chopped sphagnum with the addition of perlite or vermiculite.

Orchids will thank the owner for a mixture of pine bark, charcoal and finely chopped fern roots. Put a large, coarse bark down, and medium-sized on top. Try to ensure that the substrate fits under the base of the rhizome, but does not completely overlap it. Sphagnum moss may not have the expected effect without knowing how to use it. Before use, sphagnum mosses must be scalded, brought to room temperature, squeeze and leave in a sealed plastic bag for several days.

How to prepare peat moss

Remembering where sphagnum lives, it is worth thinking about the choice suitable place. The best place to collect moss is in the immediate vicinity of trees, where it has the least amount of wateriness, marshland is not suitable. There are several ways to collect the moss: either completely remove it from the roots, which will entail further thorough cleaning, but the volume of harvested raw materials will be larger, or by cutting off the upper part with a knife, but the resulting material will be several times less. You can collect and fold peat moss in bunches. You need to harvest sphagnum manually.

Thanks to its unique properties, sphagnum moss is very popular in construction, beekeeping, animal husbandry and among lovers of indoor plants. People who are passionate about the cultivation of giant land, also try to stock up on them for future use.

But not everyone knows where sphagnum moss grows, and it is almost impossible to find it in retail. To fix this, we will conduct a small educational program in the search for a useful plant.

What is the use of sphagnum?

For a long time and until now, this moss has been used for the construction of wooden log cabins - they caulked the cracks between the logs. Beekeepers make warming layers from dried sphagnum in the hive for the winter. But it is most widespread in plant growing, especially indoor. By adding moss to the soil, its hygroscopicity is noticeably improved. The soil retains moisture well, which allows the root system of plants to always have good moisture and breathe at the same time. And if you overlay the surface of the earth in a pot with a moisture-loving plant, you can forever forget about the drying tips, which are very difficult to deal with.

Where does sphagnum moss grow in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus?

Collecting sphagnum on your own will not be difficult if a deciduous forest is located nearby, but this moss is not in the pine forest. A lot of moss grows under aspen trees, which often grow in small hollows.

You can look for a place where sphagnum grows even in the spring, where after the snow melts for a long time there are small lakes - exactly what you need. A few weeks will pass and the sphagnum will begin to actively develop, forming soft green pillows.

It is the low-lying swampy places in the spring, which by autumn become quite passable, that is what you need to look for. By the way, when collecting sphagnum in autumn, if it was a hot summer, you should focus not on green, but on gray-gray light - this is exactly what sphagnum becomes during the dry period.