Sphagnum Moss Disinfectant is a gentle yet powerful naturally derived disinfectant and hard surface cleaner boosted with a synergistic blend of antimicrobial plant extracts. Wellington, N.Z. 14.2 The English broadlands have small lakes that originated as peat mines. Mosses have no vascular system to move water and nutrients around the plant. Mellegård has identified phenolic compounds in peat moss, Sphagnum papillosum, which is the most common peat-forming plant in Northern Europe. As the war raged on, the number of bandages needed skyrocketed, and sphagnum moss provided the raw material for more and more of them. 17th Annual Photo Contest Finalists Announced. Lorraine Boissoneault is a contributing writer to SmithsonianMag.com covering history and archaeology. The acceleration of the spores is about 36,000G. second ed. Their absorbency was remarkable. Editor's Note, May 1, 2017: This article originally stated that peat moss releases protons (it releases positively charged ions, known as cations). That’s a good thing, because the real value of this plant goes far beyond bandages. Peat moss can be distinguished from other moss species by its unique branch clusters. Coir is sustainable alternative to peat moss in the garden. If they defrost or dry out, we risk that carbon leaking out into the atmosphere. The lowermost parts of the plant are dead and decomposing underground. However, these phenolic compounds only … Sphagnum Moss Is a Source of Drinking Water Sphagnum moss, and many other mosses for that matter, are extremely spongy and hold lots of water. “The same things that make sphagnum amazing for bandages are what enable it to be an ecosystem engineer, because it can create bogs,” Kimmerer says. [15] Within main clade of Sphagnum, phylogenetic distance is relatively short, and molecular dating methods suggest nearly all current Sphagnum species are descended from a radiation that occurred just 14 million years ago.[16]. The plant and stem color, the shape of the branch and stem leaves, and the shape of the green cells are all characteristics used to identify peat moss to species. Sphagnum moss also has antiseptic properties. Sphagnum moss has also been used as a "green" alternative to water purification in public swimming pools; it inhibits bacterial growth, and greatly reduces the amount of chlorine required to maintain sanitary water References [ edit ] ^ Edwards, Sean R. (2012). Carpets of living Sphagnum may be attacked by various fungi, and one fungus that is also a mushroom, Sphagnurus paluster, produces conspicuous dead patches. The Netherlands, for example, once had large areas of peatland, both fen and bog. DESCRIPTION • Common names: peat moss, bog moss, turf moss • ‘Sphagnum’ would refer to the genus of between 151 and 350 species of mosses. In the field, most Sphagnum species can be identified to one of four major sections of the genus—classification and descriptions follow Andrus 2007 (Flora North America):[10], The reciprocal monophyly of these sections and two other minor ones (Rigida and Squarrosa) has been clarified using molecular phylogenetics. Sporophytes are raised on stalks to facilitate spore dispersal, but unlike other mosses, Sphagnum stalks are produced by the maternal gametophyte. Sphagnum has found use since ancient times in home-made sanitary towels and as a form of nappy. The Magellanic moorland. Its use is said to have saved the lives of thousands of soldiers in the First World War. Sphagnum Moss can hold up to 26 times its own body weight in water/blood. In addition, bogs, like all wetlands, develop anaerobic soil conditions, which produces slower anaerobic decay rather than aerobic microbial action. Schofield, W. B. The leaves consist of two kinds of cells: small, green, living cells (chlorophyllose cells), and large, clear, structural, dead cells (hyaline cells). [17] Peat areas are also found in New Zealand and Tasmania. More than 90% of the bogs in England have been damaged or destroyed. Most harvesting in New Zealand swamps is done only using pitchforks without the use of heavy machinery. Yes, moss, the plant. Moss Proving An Alternative To Chlorine In Pools. But it wasn’t until World War I that medical experts realized the plant's full potential. Sphagnum Moss can hold about 20 times its own weight. [37] Since 2018 Chilean law allows only for the manual extraction of Sphagnum using only pitchforks or similar tools as an aid. [25] Up to 2000-year-old containers of butter or lard have been found.[26]. Morphology of Plants. What were the Allied Powers to do? Co., N.Y. & London. [38] Harvested Sphagnum fibers may not exceed 15 cm in length and the remaining Sphagnum after harvest may never have a length less than 5 cm over the water table. Semi-open cell polyurethane materials available in flaked and sheet stock are also finding application as sphagnum replacements with typical usage in green wall and roof garden substrates. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Biology of Peatlands. [8] They even preserve human bodies for millennia; examples of these preserved specimens are Tollund Man, Haraldskær Woman, Clonycavan Man and Lindow Man. Hyophila involuta (Cement Moss) and Brachythecium Buchanani figure in International Union for Conservation of … Keddy (eds.). Approved in July last year under the CAMPA scheme by … [31] Some efforts are being made to restore peat bogs after peat mining, and some debate exists as to whether the peat bogs can be restored to their premining condition and how long the process takes. Field surgeons seemed to agree. The Government bought up tons of the bulbs, which were sent out to the front; the raw juice expressed, diluted with water, was put on swabs of sterilized Sphagnum Moss and applied to wounds. Some wetlands scientists assert that "a managed bog bears little resemblance to a natural one. However, the antibiotic and antiseptic properties of sphagnum moss is well-documented (Certainly in anecdotal accounts). Again the moss is tightly packed around the wound created for the purpose of providing a medium for root growth. [43] Over longer time scales, however, some parts of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales have seen expansion of bogs, particularly blanket bogs, in response to deforestation and abandonment of agricultural land.[8]:Fig. Soon afterwards, the protonema develops buds and these differentiate into its characteristic, erect, leafy, branched gametophyte with chlorophyllose cells and hyaline cells. Rydin, Hakan and Jeglum, John K. 2006. It contains iodine (or rather iodine type qualities), is naturally antiseptic and is mildly antibiotic. crushed, was a strong antibiotic compound, and ground green sphagnum moss (Sp. Manaaki Whenua Press, Lincoln, N.Z. 42, No. [14] All but two species normally identified as Sphagnum reside in one clade; two other species have recently been separated into new families within the Sphagnales reflecting an ancestral relationship with the Tasmanian endemic Ambuchanania and long phylogenetic distance to the rest of Sphagnum. Fraser and P.A. But the First World War was when this use became widespread on an industrial scale. However, “I can imagine if there were bogs that people used very regularly for harvesting there could be a trampling effect.”. Besides their role in global climate change, peatlands are rich ecosystems in their own right, boasting rare species like carnivorous plants. For wounded humans, the result is that sphagnum bandages produce sterile environments by keeping the pH level around the wound low, and inhibiting the growth of bacteria. This remarkable spongelike quality comes from Sphagnum’s cellular structure, says Robin Kimmerer, professor of ecology at SUNY-Environmental Science and Forestry and the author of Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses. The 1880's tests of antiseptic properties of peat and peat moss failed, the sterilization methods overrode the physiological effects of Sphagnum dressings. "Fragmentos de la historia ambiental del sistema de fiordos y canales nor-patagónicos, Sur de Chile: Dos siglos de explotación", "Ministerio de Agricultura dicta decreto que regula extracción de musgo de turberas", "Dispone Medidas Para La Protección Del Musgo, http://www.doc.govt.nz/documents/science-and-technical/sfc025.pdf, Website about sphagnum farming in Germany, in English and German, Guide to wetland restoration in New Zealand, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sphagnum&oldid=992141515, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 3 December 2020, at 18:46. p. 225-229. 1985. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. Sphagnum is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species[2][3] of mosses, commonly known as "peat moss" though they are different as peat moss has a more acidic pH level. [23], Decayed, dried sphagnum moss has the name of peat or peat moss. [39] The construction of each wind turbine usually implies the removal of vegetation and the alteration of the soil, changing by the way also of the local hydrology. She has previously written for The Atlantic, Salon, Nautilus and others. Thus tissues are thin and usually one cell thick to allow these to diffuse easily. Once valued for its antiseptic qualities, sphagnum moss is now finding a new use as the world’s best potting medium for expensive hothouse orchids. Isaac Bayley Balfour, Sphagnum moss, and the Great War (1914–1918) Share You have requested the following article: Archives of Natural History, April 2015, vo. [28] The moss inhibits the growth of microbes and reduces the need for chlorine in swimming pools. Smithsonian Institution, (Premium Stock Photography GmbH / Alamy ). Sphagnum moss is The water-holding capacity is again the main reason for using the moss. Today, this tiny, star-shaped plant is known for its use in horticulture and biofuel, not to mention its starring role in preserving thousands-year-old "bog bodies" like the Tollund Man, which Smithsonian Magazine revisited last month. That means that a 14"/350mm liner which contains about 150 grams of Moss, can hold about 3 litres … [21][22] Spores are extremely important in establishment of new populations in disturbed habitats and on islands. It continued to be used sporadically when battles erupted, including during the Napoleonic and Franco-Prussian wars. But in the end, there simply wasn’t enough cotton—a substance that was already in high demand for uniforms and its recently discovered use as an explosive—to go around. Hood, Gerry (January 1995). Moss was also used by Native Americans, who lined their children’s cradles and carriers with it as a type of natural diaper. • It is the only genus of the family Sphagnaceae. And nowhere does the giant moss grow better than in the swamps of the West Coast, where the fiercely independent locals are fuelling an industry with a future as impressive as their own landscape. In the case of sphagnum moss, you can quite literally wring it out and drink the water that you get from it. As the spherical spore capsule dries, the operculum is forced off, followed by a cloud of spores. As the story goes, in 1919, there was a fierce fight between Russia’s White Guard and the Red Army. Introduction to Bryology. Tetrahedral haploid spores are produced in the sporophyte by meiosis, which are then dispersed when the capsule explosively discharges its cap, called an operculum, and shoots the spores some distance. Unlike other mosses, the long-lived gametophytes do not rely upon rhizoids to assist in water uptake. 2010. Sphagnum taxonomy has been very contentious since the early 1900s; most species require microscopic dissection to be identified. Website: http://www.lboissoneault.com/, Continue Sphagnum moss Sphagnum Sphagnum mosses are the amazingly multi-coloured living carpets of moss found in wet places like peat bogs, marshland, heath and moorland. "[32], PittMoss, a peat moss alternative made from recycled newspaper, has emerged as a sustainable substitute in growing media. The top of the plant is called the capitulum, a rosette of leaves which gather the majority of the plant's energy through photosynthesis. (2005). An 8-year cycle is suggested, but some sites require a longer cycle of 11 to 32 years for full recovery of biomass, depending on factors including whether reseeding is done, the light intensity, and the water table. They also store large amounts of carbon, which helps reduce global warming. In the war's early days, eminent botanist Isaac Bayley Balfour and military surgeon Charles Walker Cathcart identified two species in particular that worked best for staunching bleeding and helping wounds heal: S. papillosum and S. palustre, both of which grew in abundance across Scotland, Ireland and England. This eco friendly product will quickly and completely disinfect hard and soft surfaces, deodorises air and eliminate odours. Individual peat moss plants consist of a main stem, with tightly arranged clusters of branch fascicles usually consisting of two or three spreading branches and two to four hanging branches. Swimming sperm fertilize eggs contained in archegonia that remain attached to the female gametophyte. The First World War had just begun, and already the wounds were rotting on the battlefield. Get the best of Smithsonian magazine by email. “Moss drives” were announced in local papers, and volunteers included women of all ages and children. 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