Canal Boat — January 2018

canalboat.co.uk Canal Boat January 2018 45

WATERSIDE WILDLIFE

T

he amphibians of the
plant world, mosses live
on land but depend on
water to reproduce. Commonly
found in wooded areas, the
edges of streams and my lawn,
mosses can grow anywhere in
cool, damp, cloudy conditions,
which probably fairly
accurately describes the British
climate. There are over 600
species of moss in the UK
varying from coarse tufts to
compact green cushions – each
made of many tiny moss plants
packed together to hold onto
water.
Mosses first appeared in the
fossil record 320 million years
ago and these primitive plants
remain unable to grow very
large. They are “non-vascular”
plants, lacking the series of
tubes present in more advanced
flowering plants that are used
for transporting water and
nutrients around the organism.
Modified stems form
thread-like rhizoids that take
the place of roots and anchor
the plant to the hard substrate.
Absorption of water and
minerals occurs mainly through
the simple leaves that cover
thin wiry stems. Enough
sunlight is needed for the leaves
to photosynthesise: they are
never parasitic, but often grow
on trees as epiphytes, the moss
being fairly specific about the
tree it is associated with.
Mosses do not produce
flowers or seeds, but spread by
tiny, single-celled, spores
formed in beak-like capsules
born aloft on thin stalks. They
also spread asexually: pieces of
the moss body can break off,
move by wind or water, and
start a new plant if they settle in
a suitable moist environment.
Many birds use moss to line
their nests and pre-industrial
societies also recognised the
benefits of moss for bedding
and insulation in mittens, boots
(Otzi, the European Iceman,
found mummified in a melting

glacier, had moss-packed

boots) and buildings. In World

War One Sphagnum mosses

were used as first aid dressings

on soldiers’ wounds, being

highly absorbent and having

mild anti-bacterial properties.

In rural Britain Fontinalis

antipyretica was traditionally

used to extinguish fires – it

could be found in substantial

quantities in slow-moving rivers

and the moss retained large

volumes of water which helped

quench the flames.

You can also see a relatively

primitive bird, with one of the

longest fossil records of all

birds (over 100 million years),

on our waterways. Two species

of this family of large, black,

long-necked birds occur around

the British Isles. Shags (slightly

smaller and sporting a small

crest in the breeding season)

are commoner on the coast, but

it is the cormorant with its

white cheeks and chin that has

spread inland, especially during

the winter months.

Cormorants are powerful

swimmers both above and

below water. Their legs are

placed well back along the body

and, unlike in most water birds,

the hind toe is long, turned

inwards and webbed to the

inside front toe, giving them

three webs instead of the usual

two on each foot. Cormorants

actively pursue fish beneath the

water, grabbing them with their

hooked beak. The birds usually

return to the surface to swallow

their prey. An elastic throat

pouch and a specially hinged

beak mean that, unlike Grey

Herons, they can also cope with

large flat fish.

Although totally dependent

on diving in water to catch

food, the cormorant’s wing

feathers are less water

repellent than those of most

other water birds. They have

to seek an open, breezy place

after each feeding session and

literally hang their saturated

wings out to dry. Looking like

a cleric about to give an

open-armed benediction in his

long black cloak, ‘parson’ and

‘Mochrum elders’ are both

archaic names for cormorants.

The posture can also have a

sinister Gothic appearance,

and cormorants have an

ancient status as creatures of

ill omen.

British fishermen have long

resented the cormorant’s

fishing prowess.

Uses range from iceman’s

boots to World War dressings

as Pip Webster explains

A chip off the

old moss

Cormorant drying its wings

Moss thrives in damp sites