Moss

Time for a close-up look at one of the "lesser" organisms in God's immensely great creation.

Everyone is probably familiar with moss. It's typically green and soft, and seems to like to grow in rich soil, on rotting trees, and on rocks. Moss is common (at least here!) and not something that naturally draws your attention. But that does not mean it isn't incredible.

Here is a very healthy clump of moss that is growing in our woods out back.

We will examine this moss from the top down, starting with these little strands, called Seta.

This is the tippy tip of one of those Seta. It is technically known as the calyptra, which protects the capsule (also known as a sporangium). The capsule contains the spores, which are the reproductive structures of a moss, perhaps the equivalent of a normal plant's seed, only much smaller.

This is the seta, the skinny little stem that supports the calyptra (which protects the capsule, which contains the spores). It grows from the gametophyte (which we will see next) and channels nutrients to the capsule.

This is the gametophyte. It's the part that you would normally think of when talking about moss. It's the green, sort of leafy part. However, they are not leaves, for unlike leaves they do not have veins for transporting water and nutrients. They do, however, have special tissues for transporting water.

This is the part we would normally consider to be the root, but mosses do not have roots. They have rhizoids, which anchor the moss to the soil (or rock, or stump).

I'm not exactly sure what this is :) It's connected to the rhizoid, so it may be a part of that, but I'm not certain. What I am fairly certain of, however, is that they are strands of cells. They were really neat to look at though!

The amazing thing about the tiny little cell-strands in the two images above is that they are totally invisible without a microscope. I didn't even know that they were there until I looked in the microscope. So much for being familiar with moss!

That is one of the amazing things about God's creation: there's always more to be discovered. No one person will ever get to a point where they know EVERYTHING there is about creation. It is far too diverse, far too complicated, far too incomprehensible. "O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom have You made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures" (Psalm 104:24). Some parts of God's creation are simply too great to comprehend, and others too small. So diverse and multi-faceted!

"Behold, these are the outskirts of His ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?" (Job 26:14). Now think about that. All of this creation, so diverse, so impossible to understand, and it is but the outskirts of His ways! Only a whisper of Himself! How great, diverse, and incredible then must our God be?