Gathering Moss

by Kimmerer, Robin Wall

• ISBN13: 9780870714993
• ISBN10: 0870714996
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-03-01
• Publisher: Oregon State Univ Pr

Summary

Living at the limits of our ordinary perception, mosses are a common but largely unnoticed element of the natural world. Gathering Moss is a beautifully written mix of science and personal reflection that invites readers to explore and learn from the elegantly simple lives of mosses.Robin Wall Kimmerer's book is not an identification guide, nor is it a scientific treatise. Rather, it is a series of linked personal essays that will lead general readers and scientists alike to an understanding of how mosses live and how their lives are intertwined with the lives of countless other beings, from salmon and hummingbirds to redwoods and rednecks. Kimmerer clearly and artfully explains the biology of mosses, while at the same time reflecting on what these fascinating organisms have to teach us.Drawing on her diverse experiences as a scientist, mother, teacher, and writer of Native American heritage, Kimmerer explains the stories of mosses in scientific terms as well as in the framework of indigenous ways of knowing. In her book, the natural history and cultural relationships of mosses become a powerful metaphor for ways of living in the world.Gathering Moss will appeal to a wide range of readers, from bryologists to those interested in natural history and the environment, Native Americans, and contemporary nature and science writing.

Author Biography

Robin Wall Kimmerer is an Associate Professor on the faculty of Environmental and Forest Biology at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

Table of Contents

Preface: Seeing the World Through Moss-Colored Glasses	vi
The Standing Stones	1	(6)
Learning to See	7	(7)
The Advantages of Being Small: Life in the Boundary Layer	14	(7)
Back to the Pond	21	(8)
Sexual Asymmetry and the Satellite Sisters	29	(6)
An Affinity for Water	35	(9)
Binding Up the Wounds: Mosses in Ecological Succession	44	(8)
In the Forest of the Waterbear	52	(10)
Kickapoo	62	(7)
Choices	69	(13)
A Landscape of Chance	82	(9)
City Mosses	91	(9)
The Web of Reciprocity: Indigenous Uses of Moss	100	(11)
The Red Sneaker	111	(10)
Portrait of Splachnum	121	(4)
The Owner	125	(16)
The Forest Gives Thanks to the Mosses	141	(10)
The Bystander	151	(5)
Straw Into Gold	156	(7)
Suggestions for Further Reading	163	(3)
Index	166