Oak moss is found in the mountainous regions of the US and grows, as the name suggests, on oak trees. Sphagnum moss was one that was used right up until WWII, which had been used for centuries before. Sphagnum in Scotland: the moss is mostly found in peat bogs, forests and moist tundra. The moss itself has antimicrobial properties, and was therefore used as an effective filler for wounds to prevent infection. Thus there is a gradual build up of organic matter, which is known as sphagnum moss peat, and over large periods of time this can produce deposits many metres thick. Despite the ethno-medicinal property Sphagnum spp. Sphagnum Moss is an easy and efficient way to ensure you and your family has plentiful drinking water. Sphagnum moss is simple to use and beneficial for potted plants as a liner, as it acts like a sponge absorbing and retaining moisture while keeping its natural acidity. Compared to other plants, bryophytes are small and relatively simple- they lack roots and a vascular system. Many types of moss, including sphagnum moss, are great for dressing a wound. To stock up on medicinal raw materials, you should follow simple rules. Sometimes, the moss is mixed in with the soil, for hanging baskets and in the garden, to aerate the soil and/or add acidity. In herbal medicine, moss is most commonly used as a diuretic or as a cure for coughs, depending on how the moss is processed and which moss is used. Sphagnum moss also possesses natural bacterial fighting abilities and was used in World War I as a wound dressing. Well of course it is, especially in survival situations. Even if they pass by it and see the structure, if it’s an old building such as a shed that looks rickety and as if nobody’s been in it forever, they’ll be more likely to pass it by than if the place looks lived in or used. I was always told to stay away from Spanish moss, because of the bugs that it infested with. Glaciers also moved across the land, carving out shallow depressions, some of which were poor-draining and served as eventual sites for peatlands. So how, exactly, should you use peat moss, now that you know about the benefits and downsides of sphagnum peat moss? The only real risk you have is that there is an extremely small chance that there are halophiles in it. How a Prepper Lockpicking Tool Kit Should Look Like, 7 Emergency Essentials Preppers Always Need, What Survival Red Teaming Is And How You Can Use It, Moss's Survival Uses Are Pretty Crazy | Survival Frog Blog, http://www.willametteevergreen.com/wholesale-oregon-green-moss-sphagnum, Top 6 Survival Rifles And Why You Need One. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. In fact, during World War I, the Germans used sphagnum moss to make bandages that proved vastly superior to the cotton pads available at that time. Sometimes it grows on the sides of a building, giving it that picture-pretty appearance. The filled bags are passed through a solution of corrosive sublimate by a worker in rubber gloves, squeezed through a little mangle and dried again, that they may return to the specified weight, for after the bath they are 2 OZ. Since it is absorptive and extremely acidic, it inhibits growth of bacteria and fungi, so it is used for shipping seeds and live plants. An empty hayshed may also be employed, open on all sides, or the floors of an empty room, with windows open, wire netting being used to keep the moss from blowing away. Sphagnum only thrives in clean water and soil; it dislikes manure of any kind. It comes from a wetland. subscribed! If you use it to insulate your house or shelter, it will keep it either warm or cold, whichever you need at the time. All the links below are Affiliate Links, so I do get a small commission for recommending them, with no extra cost to you. It’s also been used as an estrogen substitute and Spanish moss has antibacterial properties. You Can Use Sphagnum Moss to Filter Water. Its stem is densely beset with narrow, broken-up leaves, a branch being emitted at every fourth leaf; many of these are turned downwards and applied more or less closely to the stem. Many types of moss, including sphagnum moss, are great for dressing a wound. She prefers to live off the grid as much as possible and does her best to follow the “leave nothing behind but footprints” philosophy. Due to their poor drainage, the water has low oxygen, so it is anaerobic and has limited microbial po… They are the remains of the dead materials of wild mosses that have been piled up in a peat bog over a thousand years. But the use of sphagnum moss as a wound dressing has a much longer history; during the Great War it played an important part as a substitute for cotton gauze dressings. Bogs and fens form where sphagnum grows because both living and dead moss absorb and store water. Sphagnum moss is very spongy and for that matter hold a lot of water. Common Name Index As a matter of fact, many survivalists regularly use moss as a water source and I haven’t heard of any that have ever had an issue. Sphagnum fuscum is brown to greenish brown in color with slender brown stems. Time and suffering are saved, as well as expense: the absorbent pads of moss are soft, elastic and very comfortable, easily packed and convenient to handle. If you have any other survival uses of moss, please share them with us in the comments section below! The water can be squeezed out, but the Moss does not collapse and is ready to take in fluid again. It has also lately been reported from Sweden that successful attempts have been made to extract alcohol from Sphagnum. Another one of sphagnum moss's many uses is … Less misleading info! They grow together to form large clumps. ECONOMIC AND ETHNIC USES 15 formed a hard tufa; J. M. Glime and R. E. Keen (1984) found a similar response in Fontinalis, where iron oxide completely enveloped the moss in a hard cover. If squeezed with the hand, it must not be pressed into a hard ball. Relief will come quickly. There are several different types of edible moss, including: Technically, Spanish moss isn’t moss at all but a member of the bromeliad family. Reindeer moss is a light-colored lichen that only grows to be a few centimeters tall. The survival uses for moss are many and varied. Sphagnum has also been used historically for medicinal purposes. Green moss is extremely useful for efficient survival of both flora and fauna (humans inclusive). Those who do not know will not it will not survive.. There are approximately 12,000 species of moss, but it’s only the 380 species of sphagnum moss that create peat. Perhaps the most common use for sphagnum peat moss is as a soil amendment. Day 1. Sphagnum Moss. The material helps loosen hard, compacted soils while improving drainage around plant roots. On the outbreak of the late war a still wider economic use was found for this moss, as a dressing of wounds, and an interesting industry sprang up for war-workers living where this moss grows, mainly in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Devon, much having also been collected from the Yorkshire moors, the Lake District and the Wye Valley. Also if you insulate your house with flammable moss won’t it burn easily? The material helps loosen hard, compacted soils … If you’ve ever actually tried to determine direction using this method, you probably ended up scratching your head in confusion because there was moss all the way around the tree. Peat moss is a great seed starting medium. Uses of sphagnum moss in folk medicine Share. Peat moss also reduces the amount of runoff, or water that carries away important nutrients that would otherwise be used … Food is heavy and you can’t carry much of it with you so if you can find it along the way, that’s awesome. The Peat Tar contains similar antiseptic and preservative properties as the Moss itself - conclusively demonstrated by the fact that bodies of animals have lain buried in peat bogs for years, and when accidentally disinterred have been found in a state of perfect preservation. ---Medicinal Action and Uses---Preparations of calcined peat have long been regarded as effective and cheap germicides, and as a valuable aid to sanitation; peat water possesses astringent and antiseptic properties, and the air in proximity to tracts of peat moss is invariably salubrious, owing probably to the absorption of hydrogen and the exhalation of oxygen by the mosses. medicinal plants. Synonym: sphagnum moss 2. A tar extracted from the decaying moss is antiseptic and is seen as a … For the latter purpose it is a preventative no less than a cure. Peat moss develops its richness in the absence of air, and when put to use it naturally starts decomposing completely, and when it does it releases the nutrients but makes it especially useless for carnivorous plants. Johannes Enroth (Bryonet 28 January 2009) visited the Yucatan, Mexico, and discovered mosses in use there. David E. Allen. Old Man’s Beard could perhaps be used in combination with balsam fir sap (which is a topical pain killer and adhesive) to secure the lichen to the wound, keep it clean, safe from infection, and reduce pain. If you’ve ever been in the Scouts or read old country lore, you’ve most likely heard that if you’re lost, look for moss because it grows on the north side of trees. Its use is said to have saved the lives of thousands of soldiers in the First World War. Since it’s acidic, bacteria doesn’t tend to grow in it. In an emergency situation, Beard lichen could be used solely to bandage and keep clean a wound. This type of moss is also good for soothing and healing rashes. Sphagnum or peat moss, with its tiny leaves, absorbs a lot of liquid making it an ideal, natural wound dressing, as well as treatment for rashes. So do I clean it first? In World War I, it was even used as sponges during surgeries when sponges and bandages that were typically used were scarce, Epstein said. There was a munition factory in Scotland, where much of the moss was sublimated and part of it compressed by hydraulic power into these cakes. Or serve my good on top of it? It looks almost like a piece of coral growing from the side of the tree, at least to me, and has a pale, greenish-gray “leaves” that are pointy. The peat moss species Sphagnum teres is very popular to treat various eye diseases in China. Is mood miss edible? Sphagnum moss is a drinking water source. GENERAL I ARTICLE Uses of Bryophytes ... Gardeners use Sphagnum in air layering, a method of propagating plants. Where a moor produces large patches of coherent Sphagnum - cushions - the following method has been employed. How to use peat moss in your garden depends on what you plan to use it for. Sphagnum Peat Moss? The Government bought up tons of the bulbs, which were sent out to the front; the raw juice expressed, diluted with water, was put on swabs of sterilized Sphagnum Moss and applied to wounds. Due to the nature of its habitat, the dead plants do not decompose as quickly as new dead material is produced. Bryophytes do not have seeds or flowers; instead they reproduce largely via spores or vegetatively. Throughout history its uses have ranged from medicinal to clothing to food. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Fortunately the supply is practically an unlimited one; indeed, if the demand grew considerably, the artificial cultivation of Sphagnum for surgical purposes would be worth while. For fun, she enjoys shooting, kayaking, tinkering on her car and motorcycle, and just about anything else that involves water, going fast, or the outdoors. It acts as a natural iodine and is purportedly sterile because of this quality. Sphagnum moss (Sphagnum species) has been used for thousands of years. Many materials, including other kinds of moss, are equally soft and light, but none can compare with it in power of absorption, due to its sponge-like structure. The squeezing may be done with the hands, or with a towel or coarse sacking, further wringing being done at home, if necessary, with a laundry roller-wringer or mangle. Reactions: havocdb. On my wilderness survival trip it was dead and dried and we called it witches hair, used it as toilet paper. Tangled history of the European uses of Sphagnum moss and sphagnol N Mrgth / shutterstock. The Tree Moss grows only on trees. Aug 12, 2008 #2 great dude, i'm very interested to see how this will work. You can and should buy wholesale green moss from http://www.willametteevergreen.com so you can be prepared at an efficient up-front cost. Though the pale-green species is the most common, there are several others, large and small, varying in colour from the very light green (never dark green) to yellow, and all shades of pink to deep red and brown. Sphagnum moss naturally grows in different locations, and most gardeners use them for container gardening, such as hanging baskets, houseplants, and orchids. Sphagnum moss has been used since ancient times as a dressing for wounds. The Tree Mosses, Lichen Plicatus, are cooling and binding, and have a digesting and mollifying quality. One of the best things about this is that, since moss has an interconnected, shallow root system, you can cut it in large chunks that make it easy to transport and cover your shelter quickly. The genus Sphagnum, consisting of around 250 species, is one of the most commonly-used mosses in commercial industry.It belongs to the class Sphagnopsida and order Sphagnales and is the only member of the family Sphagnaceae. A bonus benefit to using moss as part of your structure is that if you really need to, you can use it to capture clean drinking water! Sphagnum Moss has important advantages (as an absorbent) over cotton-wool. Due to its low thermal conductivity, sphagnum is used in the construction business as an insulating material. Just apply is as a bandage and change as it dries out. Most peat moss for use in garden soil comes from sphagnum moss. How Peat Moss works in an Aquarium Medicine from moss: Bioreactor technique may offer hope to people with age-related blindness Date: July 23, 2010 Source: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg Every part of the moss is permeated with minute tubes and spaces, resulting in a system of delicate capillary tubes, having the effect of a very fine sponge. I just had to try, the first step is to try rooting in sphagnum moss, step 2 is to try growing in only moss. Sphagnum (peat moss) - marsh plant, a genus of moss from which peat is formed. If you have a structure like this, try to place your entrance at the rear where it won’t be visible and don’t wear an obvious path to it. Sphagnum moss, and many other mosses for that matter, are extremely spongy and hold lots of water. Recommend to Library. The moss is spread out on a table and all other substances, such as grasses, twigs, bits of heather and other plants, and above all, pine-needles, must be carefully removed by hand. While still damp, all clumps should be separated out, as the moss, whether picked or not, must be sent to the workrooms in a loose state. Soil Amendment. SURVIVOPEDIA helps people regain their peace of mind – by becoming more self-reliant and self sufficient in all aspects of life: from putting food on the table, to keeping your loved one safe, and staying in good health. All good info, however don’t let one source be your defining point for what you now deem edible. A pad of Sphagnum Moss absorbs the discharge in lateral directions, as well as immediately above the wound, and holds it until fully saturated in all parts of the dressing before allowing any to escape. For thirty years, Sphagnum Moss had been used as a surgical dressing in Germany. Theresa Crouse is a full-time writer currently living in central Florida. Use sphagnum moss without the peat moss, and your orchid will thank you. The diuretic action of Polytrichum moss, known in seventeenth century Europe and independently used in traditional Chinese and Guatemalan medicine, was rediscovered in the nineteenth and early twentieth century (Drobnik and Stebel 2015), when Sphagnum moss was used for dressing wounds in 1882, and subsequently used in World War 1 simply as an absorbent. Sphagnum moss is simple to use and beneficial for potted plants as a liner, as it acts like a sponge absorbing and retaining moisture while keeping its natural acidity. dressing absorbing up to 2 lb. Soak the sphagnum moss for 30 minutes. After the glaciers melted, the water runoff filled in these areas. After cleaning the wound, apply the moss as a bandage. Sphagnum Moss Is a Source of Drinking Water. havocdb Well-Known Member. Do more research. This was a very spongy moss which would be used to pack wounds. ---Preparation of the Dressings---The moss after being dried and carefully picked over is now ready for the dressings. 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