"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 30 Aug 2004 19:31:48 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:


"Martin" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 30 Aug 2004 14:45:19 +0000 (UTC), "Franz Heymann"
wrote:


"Alan Welsh" wrote in message
...
Leptobryum pyriforme particularly likes to grow on garden
soils.
It is a seedless non-vascular plant and reproduces by growing
spores.
Although it's chiefly used to give a growth 'spurt' to oilseed
rape,
the
actual method of spore propogation is rather unusual....
It is *always* recommended to leave this kind of moss in-situ
rather
than habitually destroying it which is most gardeners
instinctive
action.

I don't grow oilseed rape, so what good does it confer on my
garden?
How would I recognise Leptobryum pyriforme?
Is it a particularly uncommon moss? I ask because unless I
looked
badly, it is not listed in the book "Grasses, Ferns, Mosses &
Lichens
of Great Britain and Ireland" by Roger Phillips.

Google finds it


http://www2002.stoke.gov.uk/museums/...ion/keystage/c
ontent/moss-keystage_4.htm

and
http://www.nps.gov/mora/notes/vol17-1-2e5.htm
"Leptobryum pyriforme (L.) Schimp. known as the Long-necked
Bryum,
is
a beautiful form recognized by the long-necked capsules and
slender
leaves. It frequents moist places along the Nisqually River
Trail."

Thanks for the links. I now know more than before. But I am still
baffled about Alan Welsh's recommendation that this moss should be
left in situ on my garden soil.

I was hoping you would tell me the location of Nisqually River
Trail.
It doesn't pass through your garden does it :-)

A change of topic. Did you ever eat prickly pears Franz?

Yes, frequently.

Do they taste
good?

Yes, if they are decently ripe. The flavour is delicate and slightly
sweet.

I watched somebody on German TV this evening in a documentary
about Tenerife showing how to pick them without getting prickles in
your fingers. He also showed how to open up the fruit, but nobody
tried eating them.

The silly idiots.

Do be exceedingly careful when peeling them. Once the prickles have
penetrated your skin, it takes days to get rid of the irritation. I
handle
them with a knife and fork. Hold it with the fork
while you top and tail them, then make a longitudinal slice through
the skin and use the knife to open it wide enough to get your
fingertips in, and force the skin off. If the pp is ripe, the skin
comes off cleanly.

A word of warning: The pips are somewhat slow to be digested, so
never eat more than six at one go if you want to avoid being
constipated.

They do occasionally get into the supermarkets. I always keep an eye
open for them

But what is the connection between prickly pears and moss?
{:-))

Franz