Only In A Bog

  Occasionally, a hike can provide some pretty thought-provoking finds.  On our recent tromp through the bog, Darling Daughter and I found one small area that was covered in some pretty unusual looking plants.  We had never seen these before and pondered just what we had discovered.  After photographing the twelve to fifteen inch tall plants, the challenge was on to identify them.  We just knew that the things had to be special...after all, they were really weird.  Anything weird and wonderful captures our curiosity to the point that we cannot rest until we are fully satisfied that we know what we have stumbled upon.  

  The plants in question were quite soft to touch, tall, leaves up the entire stalk and were connected by runners.  They grew in a moist soil under the shade of trees.  The plants were still bright green regardless of the fact that the area had just endured temperatures down into the teens for several days. (So far, winter has been for four days...only.  Hoping for more before spring arrives.)  Their fresh look told us that the plants were relatively cold hardy.  So armed with that information and the photographs, we started our research.  While Elizabeth perused the plant guides, I took the much easier route and asked my cousin.  This guy knows most everything!  Just about the same time Elizabeth announced her find of a possible identity, I got an message with the same information from my cousin!  Lycopdeiella appressa or Southern Bog Clubmoss.  Well now!  That is pretty exciting, right?  I thought so.

  Now that we knew what the plant was, we had to look for possible uses other than it just sitting there being pretty.  (Although, that is a rather neat thing for a plant to do!)  It turns out that this plant has been used for centuries as a medicinal aid, in dyes, during ceremonial rituals and for decorative purposes.  Of all of these, it was those decorative uses that nearly was the bane of the plant.  Many folks were ripping the poor plants from the ground to use as garland greenery.  Tons of the plants were uprooted, used on doorways, stairs, etc. then tossed aside.  Being as the roots were stripped from the ground and that the plants are slow growing, many bogs became devoid of the clubmoss. 

  Well, Elizabeth and I decided that cannot happen to "our" clubmoss!   Between the two of us, it has become a goal to root many of the plants to replenish the bogs of the area.  That comes from being Wildcrafters of a sort.  We believe that you do not take without giving back.  Harvest only what you need, leave some to regrow and replant whenever you can.  It is a shame that folks take until all is gone but that comes from the fact that we all now live in a "throwaway" society where folks have a tendency to not think beyond their own whims.  Whether it be robbing the land of all that is good or wasting things that can be reused, this attitude is shameful.