^Tn^Z^Ei*] - Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission

STREAM-SIDE LIFE
Some mosses are familiar to all of
us, but only those who penetrate the
boggy areas surrounding a pond or
lake and the marshy lowlands about
some streams will find the sphagnum
moss.
The bog or peat moss belongs to the
order Sphagnales and contains only
the one genus Sphagnum, which is
represented by several hundred species
growing the world over. Its favorite
habitat is an old pond or lake that
is gradually filling up. Here sphagnum
grows in large cushion-like mats that
yield quickly when stepped upon.
These mats are made up of long
closely packed plants, the lower ends
of which are dead and brown and the
f -SPOROPHYTE
Sphagnum Moss
By ROBERT LEO SMITH
(ot-ea fly enlarged)
upper parts branching and leafy.
There are two kinds of branches on
the sphagnum plant. Clustered about
the top of the plant to form a sort of a
rosette are the short, erect branches,
and falling gracefully about the stems
are the long pendent ones.
The leafy structures of the sphagnum
have two kinds of cells, narrow
ones which contain green coloring
matter and large translucent ones with
conspicuous thickenings and openings.
These latter cells have the ability to
absorb and hold a considerable amount
of water. This characteristic makes
sphagnum economically important as
a packing material for shipping living
plants and in some cases as a surgical
SPh/iGNUn PLANT
tfSSfV,
dressing. Carbonized sphagnum "f
comes peat and is used for fuel ^
some regions and for a garden mul^i
The male reproductive structures "
sphagnum are spherical bodies borjj
on long stalks which grow out of $
axils of the leaves of the short, ere c
branches. The female structures g r °^
on the ends of the short branch e ?j
These produce the sporophyte, a srn \
spherical capsule, dark brown or bla c
in color, borne on a short stalk whi c
also arises from the ends of the sb°*J
branches. Upon germination, the * 3 '
ture spores from the sporophyte "f
velop short filaments that eventual
grow into the familiar sphagn u ^
plants.
A sphagnum bog is an interest^
place for the acid conditions existj 11 "
there eliminate many plants and brij*
together unusual forms. Along **l
edges of the bog grow hemlocks, a^
if far enough north, the balsam &'
Highbush blueberries are abundai^
and scattered through the sphagn u _
are those predacious plants, the su"'
dew and the pitcher-plant.
Ralph Sides
in the Lancaster New Era
It's funny what fishing rods do to pe°P
When a guy holds one, the world chang^'
everything about him is wonderful!
If he is a Big Shot—he may becof
chummy with a bum, they are pals. **jj
change the rod for a golf club or gun &
he might kick the hobo out of his * ay j
When God made all men equal, He ^t
have been thinking of fishermen. There
hardly any other phase of a man's life vtfh lC
levels everybody.
Pick out a person who is bored stiff *'
fishing and eight chances out of a cat '°e
nine-tail you'll have someone who can't '*
with himself.
The pace of the world today fits us *
holding lightning rods rather than *^
pacifying fishing rod. j
Presidents go in for fishing, a fishing
is a let down from a ruling staff. We ".
can't be presidents, but anyone who w^
can find solace in fishing. j
When a man learns to hold a fishing
patiently waiting for fish to bite, he l ea
something of himself too. e
Many are strangers to themselves,
might grimace looking in the mirror to a
morning while shaving but except f 01 t
slight extraneous criticism, we go a "
smugly thinking all is well. i0
A character analysis is forthcoming ,;
anyone who will go fishing—you'll have ^
opportunity to "size up" yourself wi tfl
"measuring rod" used for fishing. fisji
You can ponder on which is smarter, 9
or man? It might bring your ego doVt ^,st
peg—but you'll keep trying to prove, J^
as we all do, that your brain is not u
bigger in size than a fish's but that y,
can use it to better advantage . . . but J ,
may be tramping on your beard by
time!
22 PENNSYLVANIA ANG^ 1