Mosses, Liverworts, and Hornworts - by Ralph H Pope (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

The inclusion of some of the more commonly used technical terms makes the book a good educational tool that can help people transition from amateur bryology to more advanced study.... Pope's inclusion of similar species in his species accounts and species lists eliminates some of the uncertainty that the user may be experiencing and maximizes the guide's use for both amateurs and those seeking to delve a little deeper into bryology.â- Rhodora

Mosses, liverworts, and hornworts are found throughout the world in a variety of habitats. They flourish particularly well in moist, humid forests, filling many ecological roles. They provide seedbeds for the larger plants of the community and homes to countless arthropods, they capture and recycle nutrients that are washed with rainwater from the canopy, and they bind the soil to keep it from eroding. This photo-based field guide to the more common or distinctive bryophytes of northeastern North America gives beginners the tools they need to identify most specimens without using a compound microscope. Ralph Pope's inviting text and helpful photographs cover not only the "true" mosses but also the Sphagnaceae (the peat mosses), liverworts, and hornworts.

The heart of any field guide is the ability to narrow down a large number of possibilities to a single species, and this book does that with a variety of keying strategies. Traditional dichotomous keys are included, and there are also "quick" keys based on habitat and special morphological characteristics. The organization of the species pages is by plant family, an arrangement likely to resonate with readers with some plant background or botanical interest.

Mosses, Liverworts, and Hornworts also features information on collecting, preserving, and identifying specimens to help hikers, naturalists, botanists, and gardeners find their way into this beautiful miniature world.

Sections on bryophyte biology and ecology provide taxonomic and ecological context.

Review Quotes

A remarkable book that bridges the gap between dense technical manuals and superficial field guides and covers these interesting plants in remarkable depth and detail for such a compact volume.... More than being just a simple identification guide, this book is a thoughtful interpretation of the flora with a much greater wealth of biological, ecological, and bibliographic information that is found in most field guides. Its rigor and friendly tone should inspire botanists to enter the miniature world of mosses, liverworts, and hornworts.

The inclusion of some of the more commonly used technical terms makes the book a good educational tool that can help people transition from amateur bryology to more advanced study.... Pope's inclusion of similar species in his species accounts and species lists eliminates some of the uncertainty that the user may be experiencing and maximizes the guide's use for both amateurs and those seeking to delve a little deeper into bryology.

About the Author

Ralph Pope is the author of Lichens above Treeline: A Hiker's Guide to Alpine Zone Lichens of the Northeastern United States.